The Initiative
by Funygirl38
Summary: A bit of fan fiction inspired by recent movie going...I had to get the story out of my head and down onto paper if you will so i throw myself on your tender mercies..any advice that I can't get from my future son in law will be greatly appreciated.. My sequel to The Initiative..Sacrifices is now up!
1. Chapter 1

1.

It was a dark day for her good senses when Sarah Miller received word she had been recruited for employment with S.H.I.E.L.D. at their new headquarters. It was an even darker day when she opened her dossier to find she would be working as an assistant in the newly retooled Avengers inititative department, in normal circumstances, without the superhuman company, a wondrous and terrifying look into how alternate, reality really had become. Add any one of the multiple personalities, the ultra rich, ultra smart egomaniac Mr. Stark, his friend and shadow as of late, the subtly volatile Dr. Banner, the quiet patriot and beloved super soldier, Steve Rogers, and it was a full blown party complete with balloons and streamers.

Sarah lay on the couch in her midtown Manhattan apartment, her file opened across her face to shut out the light of the small table lamp on the stand beside her, a small calico cat draped across the middle of her stomach. At this time of day, her ritual would usually consist of a hot bath followed by a warm supper and a glut of paperwork with the television on mute while she played up and down with Mr. Whiskers who insisted on making her lap his personal comfort zone every evening, but the words of Director Fury still echoed in her head. "Ms. Miller, you have come to us at a very serious juncture, there are new developments taking place and you will be meeting new..." Here, Fury had hesitated with a slight smile, "..people, you will have a window to a world most others can never dream of. I hope you're up to the task." Of course she had smiled in return and nodded enthusiastically, maybe a bit over the top but facing your boss was daunting enough, never mind that he kept his one eye trained on you like a searchlight into your soul. She'd left his office that day feeling like he had read everything she had been thinking as effortlessly as if it had been written across her forehead in neon lights.

The commendations she'd received from the Secret Service in Washington had propelled her to this new assignment or so she'd been told. To herself, she didn't particularly stand out among her fellow servicemen. She considered herself a crack shot with her service revolver and her paperwork was always impeccable, evenly spaced, smudge free, in triplicate..but that didn't seem a qualification in an organization such as this and she hardly believed the office workers were in need of a special agent to make sure the contents of their inbox and outbox stayed separate. More likely she was sure she would wind up as a go-fer for one of the labs, an expendable.

She lifted the folder from her face and glanced over at the tv where the 11 o' clock news was winding down. Yet another story about the day a hole had opened up in the sky above the Big Apple nearly a year ago and yet another reason why she wasn't sure she could sleep the night before her big first day at the office, then again, it wouldn't do to fall asleep standing up tomorrow morning either. She groped blindly beside the couch for the remote to the tv, causing Mr. Whiskers to stand up and stretch on her stomach, she caught him before he could reposition himself and set him on the floor where he sat blinking, his indignance at this upset visible in the rattlesnake movement of his tail. She shut off the tv, set the folder on the kitchen counter and shuffled into the bedroom, the cat at her heels.

She had bought a pants suit two days previously and now she held it up in front of herself as she stood before the mirror on the back of the bathroom door. Her dark brown hair had been pulled up in a bun all day and now bore the evidence in waves on her shoulder. She studied her face, her deep brown eyes, her small nose, a blessing since her grandparents straight from the mother country had long, strong Roman features, nose included, her round face and the dimples that punctuated it when she smiled. She had always been petite, frequently accused of being younger than she really was which, at 39, was still a plus in her book. "Perhaps", she mused, aloud, "this is why I'm a good agent...because I sure hell don't look like one." She draped the pantsuit on the chair at her dressing table and crawled into bed narrowly avoiding Mr. Whisker's premature launch into bedroom orbit as she flung the covers aside. Sleep took her surprisingly quick and it seemed as if just moments had passed when the alarm clock sliced it's way through her fitful dreams in which an angry Mr. Fury had towered above her, ten feet tall with hands on his hips while a giant disco ball rotated above his head. Sarah rolled over on her back and sighed, wondering just how long this day would turn out to be.


	2. Chapter 2

2.

Sarah sat swaying with the rhythm of the car, gripping the handle of her briefcase, an old, brown, ratty leftover of her early days in D.C., as the train sped on towards 405 Lexington Ave. where new offices far below the Chrysler building were beginning to teem with life in the 9 to 5 world., in view of Mr. Stark's newly re-renovated tower. Her first instinct when the train pulled into Grand Central Station was to remain in her seat, go back home and hide under her bed with Mr. Whiskers but her feet found autopilot a more sensible option and she was soon standing before a large black desk with countless monitors surrounding it. Sarah nodded to the security guard, an older man with grey hair who looked as if he were made of iron, and handed him her new badge. He took it from her, a quizzical look on his face which she observed in one of the monitors trained on the desk itself, then handed it back to her. "Welcome to your first day, Ms. Miller, good luck" he said as he pushed a button she couldn't see and a door slid open to the right of the desk. She stepped through the door with the ominous words, good luck, ringing in her ears. Moments later, she was being helped to her feet by a giant of a man as she silently cursed Murphy's law. She had been walking with her head down, a bad habit she couldn't seem to break, only glancing up to read the numbers on the doors along the hallway when she'd run full force into a wall of solid flesh and stepped backward in an awkward dance before finally landing in the corridor cross legged. "M'lady, are you injured?" The man asked, concern etched on his bearded face as he took her by the arm, a hand to her back to steady her as he lifted her to her feet. She managed to stutter a negative as the blond stranger bent and picked up her briefcase. "You would do well to keep your eyes trained before you when you walk, M'lady. To do otherwise is to court disaster" He said as he handed her briefcase back to her trembling hands. "Now where is it you're headed, that I may be able to direct you?" "Room 230 I think, or that's what it says in my folder anyway." The man smiled and swept his arm in a grand gesture down the corridor, "You were almost there," Two doors further. Sarah sighed, "Thank you," and walked quickly to the door as the strange man bowed deeply, "My pleasure, M'lady."

New hire paperwork kept her busy most of the morning and she felt oddly safe in the confines of her new cubicle. She began to relax just the slightest bit and had hunched over her computer terminal ready to set up her new password which she'd had yet to decide upon when a shadow cast her cubicle in darkness. She turned her chair and looked up into the face of the bearded stranger. "M'lady, forgive the intrusion. I wished to inquire upon your health after your fall in the corridor this morning and to correct a grevious error upon my part. I did not properly introduce myself," Sarah could see, in her peripheral vision, heads popping over the edge of the cubicle wall beside her and she was suddenly aware that this was one of those wondrous and terrifying moments she had been expecting and dreading all at once. "My name is Thor and you are?" Her name, oh god, she knew the words but she couldn't find her voice, she mouthed "Sarah Miller" swallowed, her throat clicked drily. "Forgive me, I did not hear you, M'lady" Thor said, stepped back and smiled. "Sarah Miller" she managed to croak and offered her hand for him to shake which he promptly took and bussed lightly across the top of her fingers. "An honor M'lady Sarah. I am glad to see you are faring well. I hope to meet you again." Sarah could only smile and nod in return as she watched Thor disappear down the aisle past the cubicles, nodding to the other agents as he walked past. When Sarah had regained her composure enough to raise her head, she was looking into the eyes of a young red-headed woman poised over the wall above her computer terminal. "I'm Lily," she said smiling as she offered her hand over the top of the monitor, "And you just made the biggest first impression on record in this office." She took Lily's hand and shook it, her hand limp, her senses reeling. "You'll get used to it" Lily smiled even bigger, "Get into a conversation with Mr. Stark and you won't know what hit you." It wasn't until half an hour later when Sarah stood to head to the cafeteria for lunch that she realized that she'd been sitting at her terminal tensed like a arrow set to fly. She stretched and winced as her muscles protested loudly when she started back down the corridor out into the main hallway.

The cafeteria was filled with agents, men and women in lab coats, a flurry of activity swirling around blue metal tables and chairs. Sarah picked a table farthest from the center of the room and opened her small yogurt cup. She'd had no appetite for the past hour but was determined to force the contents of the cup down before any other excitement decided to develop. Ten minutes later, she had relaxed into the pose of one who had completely let her guard down, her legs crossed at the ankles, left arm draped over her stomach as she perused an internal newsletter she had found at her desk upon arrival, so engrossed was she that she was completely oblivious and remained so, of the tall man with dark hair that had paused in his purposeful stride at the far side of the room to stare at her for a full three minutes until he spied Director Fury heading towards her table.

Sarah looked up at Mr. Fury with a twisted feeling in the pit of her stomach, wishing she hadn't made the attempt at the yogurt after all. Mr. Fury clasped his hands behind his back and nodded at Sarah, "How's your first day moving along, Ms. Miller?" "Good, sir" she replied with a smile that she hoped didn't look as shaky as it felt on her face. "Good, after lunch, please report to Lab number 3 on level 10 with your pad for a requisition list from Dr. Banner. He knows you're coming." She watched Fury walk away. Dr. Banner, she had read a great deal about him before being assigned here, how his experiments with gamma radiation had turned him into a mutant Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde. As she picked up the refuse of her lunch, she realized the muscles in her back had tensed up again.

Dr. Banner stood before a row of transparent computer screens suspended from the ceiling, his glasses perched far down to the tip of his nose, his mouth moving in soundless words as he glanced at the papers in the crook of his arm and back again to the glowing screens. Sarah had watched the door to the lab slide open in response to her badge and she'd walked in but it took her clearing her throat twice to get the doctor's attention. He smiled at her, his movements belying the fact that he had been as flustered to see her there as she had been to be seen. "Sorry, deep in thought, Ms..." He pushed the glasses back further on his nose and glanced at the badge at Sarah's shoulder, "Miller, you're new aren't you?" "Yes sir," she replied, for all the quiet rage that simmered beneath the surface of this man, Sarah felt he was the most normal member of the team she'd heard so much about and she stood quietly while Dr. Banner took the pad from her, made a few gestures on the screen and was in the process of handing the pad back to her when to the right of her ear came a whispered "Boo" She drove her right elbow backwards, connecting briefly with cloth and hard muscle, whirled around, maintaining the merest fingertip grip on the pad, nearly backing into Dr. Banner as she came face to face with Tony Stark, hands up, bent slightly forward, gasping, "Don't they make agents nowadays with a sense of humor? Good reflexes though sweetheart," Tony stood upright and took a deep breath, "You may need them around here, in fact I'm sure you will." He brushed past her and up to Dr. Banner, "How about you, Bruce, did she test your reflexes too?" A quick smile as Dr. Banner made as if to look at his notes again. "Nope just came here for requisitions." Tony glanced at Sarah then back at Dr. Banner, " Oh, ok, well if you'll excuse us sweetheart, a complex thermonuclear problem a day keeps the doctor away." Dr. Banner glanced behind himself at a long object laid out on a sterile table. "Thanks for coming down here to get those requisitions out, I put a rush order on them." Sarah nodded and backed from the room. As she walked down the corridor, she was aware of the feeling one gets when starstruck. She well knew she'd just met two of the greatest modern minds alive and would likely meet them again and again working here. When the door of the elevator at the end of the hall slid open, she stepped inside, her head down, as she turned to press the number of the floor she needed on the panel, she realized there was someone else in the elevator with her. She looked over her shoulder to ask her fellow rider what floor he needed to go to but stood frozen with her hand hovering over the brightly glowing numbers, staring at the man with the wide smile and green blue eyes. "Who are you?" The man said, causing Sarah to grip her pad tighter. "Sarah Miller" she replied in a small voice. The man let a smirk cross his lips and he nodded, "I am Loki." She felt as if she was staring at the face of pure madness, everything about him, the long black coat he wore, the dark green button down shirt, black pants, boots, black hair pulled back from his high-cheekboned face, gave the impression of a horseman recently freed from the Apocalypse. And now this horseman was following her. "Where do you work?" Loki asked as he kept stride beside her down the corridor to room 230. "I work here." She gestured as she walked through the door, listening to the thud of his boots as he followed her all the way to her cubicle. She was once again aware of eyes upon her as Loki leaned against the desk her computer was perched on, arms crossed with a slight smile. "What kind of work do you do?" She set her pad down beside the keyboard of the computer and sighed. Scary was quickly being replaced with annoying. "Requisitions, accounting, an occasional stint ridding the world of irritation with my service pistol," The sudden laughter caused her to jump and she nearly backed her chair into his knees. She put her hand to her mouth and closed her eyes momentarily, opening them only to find Loki had squatted beside her chair and was smiling inches away from her face. She kept her hand to her mouth so as not to scream. "I can't help but think that comment was directed towards me." He said, "Tell me do they let you carry arms right from day one?" On impulse, Sarah reached around to her left side and lifted the lapel of her jacket to reveal a brief glimpse of a pistol in a side holster. All at once, Loki was standing again, his hands clasped together, head thrown back in laughter. Sarah allowed herself a shy smile. "Sarah Miller, I can stay no longer today, Fury gets...concerned when he cannot find me. I will visit with you tomorrow." Before Sarah could say anything to the contrary, Loki was far down the aisle, before he left room 230 however, he turned, smiled again at Sarah and closed the door behind him.


	3. Chapter 3

3.

Loki had changed into a loose fitting gi, fetching a long oak staff from Fury's limited weapons stash. Limited to Loki in any case. When he entered the training area connected to the small uniform room, he could feel the pressure in the room increase as the airtight seals slid into place, a failsafe method just in case anyone felt the need to render a god unconscious..he stood to center his balance, deep breaths in and out, sliding his foot to the right, extending the staff along his leg, bringing the staff up and holding it level, he began to spin it in a slow figure eight, a parry and a thrust, swinging the staff behind himself, scenes began to form in his mind, Asgard...Odin...the Jotun...Loki, his lip curled involuntarily into a snarl, was thrown off balance by a misplaced step and tumbled forward to his hands and knees. He knelt there for long minutes trying desperately to swallow his rage. Fury had said he could return here to Midgard on the promise of cooperation with the Avengers Initiative and a vow of good faith. Loki closed his eyes and sat back upon his heels, his breath slowing with each heartbeat. Another image formed in his mind as he stood up, forehead against the staff. The new intern Sarah, whom he'd seen in the cafeteria and encountered in the elevator. That a mere mortal should draw him so was at once vexing and intriguing, especially one sworn to protect and keep safe what he'd sought to control. Perhaps, he mused, a smile forming on his lips, she could teach him more about the mortal realm than Fury wanted him to know. After all, if he was planning an extended stay, he should learn all he could to facilitate such an endeavor. The click of the intercom brought him from his reverie. "Brother, I've been looking for you" Thor, immortal babysitter...a walking, talking conscience...Loki looked about the room, "You've found me, now what." He undid the sash of the gi and pulled it off, reveling in the cool air against his skin. "Mr. Fury wishes to speak with you." Thor's voice rang out loud in the room and Loki rubbed his forehead, "Back away from the intercom you great ass, and tell Fury to come see me here if he's so eager to talk to me." Loki smiled at the thought. He doubted Fury would ever again want to be in close confines with him. Thor's voice, softer now, "He said in his office. I think it's about something that happened this afternoon. What have you done wrong, brother?" Loki punched in the code on the keypad at the door and listened as the seals released in a rush of air, "Nothing I can recall" Loki said as he stepped from the training room into the uniform room where Thor stood, arms crossed in front of his chest. "Are you sure you've done nothing wrong?" Loki nodded and looked away but his smile continued to grow, "Surely Mr. Fury wouldn't be so eager to speak with you had you been behaving." Loki struggled to contain his mirth and after a moment, was able to turn to Thor with a serious countenance, "If you consider speaking to someone misbehaving then I fully deserve the forty lashes Mr. Fury is going to give me," No longer able to contain himself, Loki exploded into giggles. Thor rolled his eyes at his brother bent double with laughter. "I have delivered the message as he asked, I now have work to do. See that you do what Mr. Fury tells you." The giggles that had overtaken Loki slowly died, replaced by a frown as he watched his brother make his way down the stairs of the platform the training room was perched upon. He sighed then, and decided that Director Fury had waited this long, he could wait a bit longer, he was going to take a shower first.

Sarah stared absently into space, listening to the whir of the can opener, ignoring Mr. Whiskers as he sat on the kitchen counter, one paw on her forearm. Try as hard as she could, she didn't recall Loki being part of the Avengers Initiative when she'd read the dossier about the project, still she couldn't confess to having paid attention to all of it. He had frightened her and all at once charmed her in the space of five minutes. She knew a few guys like that...and she wondered if he also was as crazy as they'd turned out to be. She sighed, turned the can of cat food over in the food dish and tapped the bottom to force the contents to give up their hold. He was probably crazier than all of them combined. She shook her head, afraid to speculate about what tomorrow was going to bring.

Nick Fury stood at the window of his office, staring out across the skyline of Manhattan. Had it really been so long ago that the citizens of New York, nay the entire world, had been abruptly introduced to the fact that not only were there other worlds, but other realities just waiting beyond the scope of their own and the man who had garnered the introduction was currently on his way to Fury's office. When Thor had suggested, as a way to keep a close watch on his brother, that he return to Earth under the watchful eye of S.H.I.E.L.D , Fury had balked right from the start even though it did make more sense than to leave him alone, locked away in Asgard where his power was greater. Loki had also agreed to help Dr. Banner as he studied the energy source of the Chitarian scepter which Loki had wielded during his past trangressions so Fury had given in against his better judgement, wondering if it was going to come back to bite him in the end.

Loki paused at the door to Fury's office until it slid aside to let him in. Fury glanced back at him over his shoulder. "Have a seat," Loki instead remained standing before the large wooden desk, "Is this going to take long?" he sighed, "I told Dr. Banner I would look over his latest notes and I don't want to make him angry...we don't like him when he's angry." Fury turned towards Loki with a thin smile on his lips and for a moment Loki was sure he'd enjoyed the jibe at the Doctor's expense but the smile quickly disappeared. "I was informed that you made a little foray into the internal operations sector earlier today. Looking for a job?" Loki looked down at his feet, composing himself before he lashed out at Fury's insinuating tone. "I was making friends," then added, "Why, are there any openings?" Fury shook his head, "No and I would like for you not to look for any either. Ms. Miller is a new hire and I would like her to stick around, each agent is important to us and you probably, no I'm sure you scared the hell out of her." Loki rolled his eyes, "Well if she's that easily frightened, maybe she ought not to be here. There are other things out there a lot scarier than me." Fury nodded, "That may be so but perhaps you fit her idea of a lot scarier. I would advise you to find other avenues of amusement. Do I make myself clear?" Loki nodded, looked at his feet again, then up into Fury's glare. "Crystal, director, now if you will excuse me, I have work to do.." Fury gave an imperceptable shake of his head, certain that this wasn't the last discussion they would be having on the matter, and watched Loki as he spun around and strode back through the office door.

"Looking for a job", Loki grumbled to himself, his step becoming quicker as he walked down the corridor, headed to the elevator, "How dare he presume...would he have me die of boredom here in this fortress?" He stepped onto the elevator and stood beside Tony Stark who smiled at him, "Now if it were me talking to myself that would make a lot more sense, you know, money in the bank and all those old cliches, but you, fella, it just makes you sound like a nutjob. Might want to cut it out." Loki glanced sideways at Stark, "Shut it, I've only just dealt with Fury and he has put me in a mood." Stark smiled broader as the floors flew by, " I guess at this point then, we're pretty safe, seeing as they've taken away your toys." Loki drew a hand through his hair and growled, "I am not entirely powerless without...those toys, as you call them, I daresay you can't claim the same good fortune." They stepped off the elevator and Tony turned to Loki, "That's a bit harsh don't you think? After all, I know how to play with my toys, but you, you lost the directions to yours didn't you?" As Tony sped off down the hallway towards Dr. Banner's lab, he looked back at Loki, "Maybe if you play nice, Fury might find you a new toy to play with." All at once, Loki returned to the elevator, Dr. Banner's lab was the last place he wanted to be at this moment. He punched the number 7 on the panel. He would spend the night in his chambers and damn to hell anyone who disturbed him, especially his dear brother.

Sleep that night came slowly, his mind drifting into a time he could not erase from his memory. The slow descent through space as he watched the remains of the Bifrost and Asgard slip away until they could not be distinguished amongst the myriad stars that surrounded him, the moments that madness seemed destined to consume him when he was sure that death was indeed going to capture him in its cold embrace, an end at least, to the nonexistence that awaited him in the cold grip of the universe until he had felt himself drawn slowly towards a mass of dark rocks and caverns at the edge of space, the realm of the Chitari. Fear had slowly been replaced by acceptance, then intrigue as they laid out their plans for the conquest of worlds, places he had knowledge of, swore to assist them in their endeavor...the moments before he had been sent to Earth, Thanos had remarked to him.."Are you so eager to fulfill your destiny?" Loki had looked at Thanos who grinned back at him, "Ragnarok?"...Loki sat up in bed, cold sweat beading upon his arms. The words of the seer Odin had sought out reverberated in his head, "Loki Laufeyson, god of destruction, mischief, evil...you are destined to be the undoing of all creation..."He felt a sinking sensation in his stomach as he drew up his knees and rested his head in his hands and stayed there in that position long after the midnight hour had passed until finally, true sleep overtook him and he slumped to his side curled tightly into himself, an occasional shiver wracking his body as the night wore away to day.


	4. Chapter 4

Sarah slipped into the chair before her desk and turned on the computer. She had taken care to make a quiet entrance onto the floor and only Lily poked her head around the edge of the cubicle and waved to her. Every moment the door would open at the end of the aisle, she would flinch, expecting to see Loki striding towards her but it was always someone else, an errand boy, another agent, or an intern. Sarah began to believe that what had happened yesterday had surely been a dream, that belief solidified when the next day passed uneventfully and the day after that and the day after that until a week had passed. Friday afternoon was winding down and Sarah had all but taken to stabbing her leg with a pencil to keep herself awake as the sopophoric glow of the computer screen dulled her senses and threatened to drop her head on the keyboard in blissful slumber when Lily walked around the side of Sarah's cubicle, "Some of the staff are going out for drinks this evening, would you like to join us?" Sarah blinked, "Me? Join you guys? Uh, sure, thanks for the invite, what time are you going?" Lily shrugged, "Some people say seven, others are talking, like eight but I figure if we hit it in the middle, I'm sure we won't miss the party. I think we're going to McSorleys on East seventh st. but I'm not positive, I'll write down my cell number for you and you call us to make sure." Lily bent down and scribbled a quick number on a sticky note she had in her hand. "See you then." Sarah smiled as Lily slipped back around the wall to her own cubicle. She was even making friends now. She reached over and shut down her computer, opened up her briefcase and put her pad inside. Things were looking more like normal each day.

Sarah held her earrings in one hand as she dialed Lily's cell number with the other. Late spring sunshine was dwindling down to the horizon as she stood at the window listening to the ring of the phone in her ear. "Hello?" came Lily's voice at the other end, a pause, then "Sarah, it's you good, I'm going to be at the bar at eight, meet me there ok?" "Sure," Sarah replied, "I'm just finishing getting dressed. See you there." Mr. Whiskers streaked past her feet as she turned, nearly causing her to lose her footing. "Crazy cat" she called after him watching him run into her bedroom and dive under the bed where he would remain for the rest of the evening, when the knock came at the door. She ran over to the peephole, casting a glance at her revolver on the stand by the door just to be sure. She glanced through the peephole and closed her eyes, opened them and looked again at Loki, who was standing, arms crossed, casting an occasional glance down the hallway. She laid her forehead against the door for a long moment until she felt another rap on the other side. She quickly undid the locks and flung the door wide. Loki looked up at her, grinning widely. "The address in the database at the office seems to have been correct." He walked inside the apartment, "A true adventure is this city's public transportation system." Sarah turned and closed the door, locking it securely though a brief flash of reason caused her to wonder if she wanted to be locked inside anyplace with him. "I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to be here." She said as she walked across the room, feeling his eyes trained on her as she bent down and picked up her heels. "I'm going out for the evening but first I'm going to return you to the office." She had a horrible picture of a pink slip being passed to her across her desk, "Before you get me fired." Loki shook his head, "I want to stay here with you, I want you to show me what it's like to be a citizen of this city of New York." Sarah narrowed her eyes and paused, one heel still in hand, "No way, I'm not.." she paused for the right words, "equipped to handle you. Besides, I can guarantee they're out looking for you right now." Sarah stood up "I know I would be," she added under her breath. Instead of heading for the door as she'd hoped he would, Loki walked past her, pulled a chair from the island in the middle of the kitchen and sat down, looking for all the world like he had been invited in for dinner. "Nobody said I couldn't go where I wished. I don't see what the trouble is." Sarah walked up to him, arms akimbo, she could feel her face becoming flushed as he leaned back in the chair, placing his elbow on the counter and resting his chin on his fist, the ghost of a smile crossing his face. "You said in the office on Monday that Mr. Fury gets concerned when he can't find you, so you're telling me he knows where you are?" Loki nodded and spread his arms in a wide arc, no answer was better than an outright lie, "How do you know I'm not allowed to go anywhere? If that were the case, do you think I could have left the facility unattended?" He looked at her expectantly, thinking about just how he had gotten past the security guard who was sure that the image standing before him was as solid as himself, while Loki had slipped out the front entrance and into the passing throngs. Sarah threw her hands in the air and leaned back against the far counter. "Ok, alright, but it doesn't change the fact that I have the opportunity to go out and I'm going to take it so you're not going to be able to stay here alone." Loki jumped up from the chair and clapped his hands together, "Alright, where is it we're going then?" Sarah's eyes widened and her mouth dropped open, "We? Oh no, I'm meeting some of my co-workers tonight, at a bar, people who know you. I've already got a reputation started because of Thor..." Loki's grin shrank as he pursed his lips together petulantly, "My dear brother seems to bring so much more than the thunder with him. What happened between you and the great bleeding heart?" Sarah turned from the coat closet with her jacket in hand, "Thor is your brother?" Loki stood and turned around in a circle for effect, "Why yes, can't you see the resemblance?" Sarah began to stammer a reply but Loki cut her off, "That was a joke, actually I'm what you might call adopted. You don't read very much, do you.." Sarah slipped an arm into her jacket, indignant at the assumption, "Yes I do, why, did you have any suggestions?" Loki walked up behind her and lifted the other side of the jacket which she quickly shrugged into, "Try Norse mythology..."  
She stepped out into the hallway and Loki followed her, waiting patiently as she triple locked the door behind her. "I was never much for mythology, now let's get to the subway so I can start my evening." "Is the place you're going to located in the subway station?" Loki asked as he trotted down the stairs behind her. "No, I'm placing you on the train and sending you back to the office." They stepped out from the foyer of her apartment building into the street and she set off at a breakneck pace towards the nearest station two blocks south. She'd gone a few hundred feet when she was aware that Loki's footsteps had stopped. She turned to find that he'd planted his feet firmly on the pavement and was standing, arms crossed, staring at her. "I told you, I don't want to, nor will I return to S.H.I.E.L.D. until such time as I will it." Sarah put her hands up in the air, "Fine, do what you want. I'm going out, damnit..." she shouted a bit louder than she'd wanted to, resuming her pace away from him and was nearly in the clear when she heard him call out to her, "Sarah, please, could I come with you?" She looked down at the sidewalk as she slowed to a stop, turned and shoved her hands in her coat pockets. It was going to have to be the leftover wine in the fridge or nothing at all tonight.

"He did what?" Fury bellowed at the young agent standing at attention on the large plasma screen that hung in Fury's bedroom. "Left, sir." Fury swung his feet over the side of the bed and glanced over at the clock on the stand by his bed which read 1:45 A.M. in bright blue led lights. "And did you hold the door open for him, agent? What the hell happened, why is he wandering around the city at this hour, alone?" Fury shouted this last word for emphasis. "We don't know sir, we're reviewing the video surveillance as we speak. It appears that he came to the foyer and stood in front of the security guard and when the guard looked away for a moment, he had vanished." Fury stood and walked across the room to the screen, "Vanished?" The agent cleared his throat, "Into thin air, yessir." Fury shook his head, "Well I'll bet you a hundred bucks that he's somewhere in this city. I want you to send a couple of agents to midtown to observe our new agent, Sarah Miller's apartment. Do not, I repeat, do not engage or interfere with Loki in any way. I want to keep a tight reign on him, I do not want to place Ms. Miller in any danger, and keep me posted please." Fury rubbed his head in hopes to stop the ache forming there. "I knew this was a goddamn bad idea."

Sarah rolled the wineglass back and forth between her palms as she watched Loki, his arms on the table before him, head hung over her tablet which she'd placed on the island, his face, all seriousness, bathed in the flickering glow. "Youtube, got it? Not me tube." She sighed and Loki looked up at her, eyes narrowed for a second..something told her to shut the tablet off before she corrupted him completely but instead she continued to watch him and he smiled mischieviously at her, "Is there anything that you cannot see on this wonderful thing?" Sarah laughed at this, the wine was having the desired effect. "I'm not going to show you any more than that tonight, afraid your head might explode with all that knowledge" She looked at the pink neon wall clock in the kitchen, "And it's getting late, I'm going to go to bed." Loki nodded absently, continuing to stare at the tablet before him until she slid it from the counter and held it in front of her, "That means you can see yourself out." Loki watched her open her briefcase and slide the tablet inside. "Might I stay here?" Sarah closed the briefcase and turned to him, "You really don't give up do you. I can bet that your accommodations at the office are a sight better than my old couch and tomorrow is Saturday so I've some errands to run. Real boring stuff, honestly." Loki suddenly grinned at her and she looked away, sure that it was the wine that had made her feel like she'd just done a hundred meter dash, breaking the world record in the process. "You know what, I'm going to lock my bedroom door and just so you know, I sleep with my service revolver under my pillow," She walked to the stand by the door and picked up the gun where she'd left it when Loki had first arrived earlier that evening, "See, so I expect to find you here on the couch in the morning." Loki scrambled obediently over to the couch and sat down, hands folded in his lap. "I am a man of honor, I give you my word. I will be right here in the morning." Sarah smiled, a sardonic grin, "Great, looking forward to it." She turned off the kitchen lights and put her glass in the sink then plodded into the bedroom, paused, re-entered the living room, walked to the briefcase, took out the tablet, walked over to Loki and handed it to him, "Might as well beat you to the punch," She mumbled as she turned back towards her bedroom and disappeared behind the closed door.

The sunlight streaming through her bedroom window startled her awake. She looked over at her alarm clock, nearly 9 a.m. She stood up and pulled her robe around her quietly, listening for any signs of life beyond the bedroom door. Finding nothing but silence, she opened the door and peered into the living room. Loki was fast asleep on the couch, his knees pulled up to his chest, back against the armrest, arms crossed in front of him, his head resting against the back of the couch. She approached closer. The tablet had been set on the floor and as she picked it up, she heard him groan. By the time she had place the tablet on top of the briefcase and plugged it in to charge it, Loki had swung his legs around and was now sitting on the edge of the couch, head down, elbows resting on his knees. "Better than your own bed?" Sarah asked him as she opened the refrigerator door, "Mmm," he mumbled, "Bad dreams are bad dreams no matter where you lay your head. Notwithstanding that, I slept no differently than any other night." Loki glanced up at Sarah, "Thank you for your hospitality." She shrugged, "I figured in for a penny, in for a pound. I'm making coffee, do you drink it?" Loki nodded. She added another scoop of coffee to the filter, poured the water into the reservoir on the side of the coffee maker and turned it on. "I'm going to go get changed, have a bite to eat and then I'm going to do laundry." She said to him, "if you're determined to tag along, you'll have to help me. Understood?" Loki gave her a half smile, "Good, I'll be back out in a minute."

She had opted for scrambled eggs and toast for breakfast. Loki had stood at her side, his full height of six feet making her feel even shorter than she was, watching her intently, interjecting with an occasional comment or a question. More than once, she'd had to push him aside to make room in the small space of the kitchen. He'd eaten a good share of the eggs, nodding his head in approval, Sarah, however, had lost her appetite as she pondered what Monday was going to bring when it came to light that she'd let Loki spend the night at her apartment. When they finally stepped out into the late spring sunshine, it was nearly 11 o'clock in the morning. Loki had hefted the bag of dirty laundry from her hands to his shoulder effortlessly when she'd made to pick it up herself and they walked down the sidewalk in silence, Loki turning and looking, staring at the shops, the people, who stared back at him. The laundromat was nearly deserted when they arrived and Sarah immediately started to load one of the front load washers. "Here," she said, handing him the half empty laundry bag, "Put the rest in this small washer." He slid the remaining contents of the bag inside the open washer and turned to her. "Isn't this fun?" She quipped, "Or is it a little too domestic for the likes of you?" Loki looked at the washer, "I've often wondered about such as this. It has a rather soothing rhythm to it." Sarah glanced at him, trying to determine if he was at all serious, "After we're done here, you have to go back to S.H.I.E.L.D., alright?" She hadn't mentioned to him the two agents she'd observed across the street when they'd left her apartment or the fact that they'd followed them to the laundromat and were now outside staring in through the plate glass windows from a company car, confirming the apprehension she'd felt the night before. Loki frowned, and sat down in one of the worn plastic seats next to Sarah. "Are you so eager to rid yourself of my company, Sarah?" She sighed and put a hand on his shoulder, the sensation of her small hand against his shirt startling him, "For all the trouble you've caused, I've actually enjoyed your company Loki, I would just rather have you back safe at the office." Loki stood abruptly startling her as she sat back in the chair. "I have nothing to fear from anyone, not from Fury, or Stark, or the good doctor," He leaned forward against the washer beside him, "Do you feel you're in danger when I'm here with you?" Sarah fought the urge to nod, "No, but," she shook her head, maybe it would make him understand, "There are two agents in a car outside on the street, and they've been watching us...wait!" She cried as he spun on his heels and strode out the door of the laundromat to stand, arms crossed, staring across the street at the two agents who by now had exited their vehicle and were walking over to meet him. Sarah walked outside and stood beside Loki whose blue green eyes flashed in the noonday sunlight, nostrils flared, a sneer twisting his face. "Ms. Miller," One of the agents said to her. She was about to respond when Loki stepped to his right, placing her behind him. "She has done nothing wrong. I sought her company of my own volition. You will tell Director Fury." The agent who had first spoken, nodded in agreement, "Yessir, now if you will come with us, we can be on our way and you can tell the Director yourself." Loki turned to Sarah as the agents stepped into the street, "Thank you, Sarah Miller, for playing a gracious host. I look forward to seeing you at the office." Here he grinned and once again she had to steady herself as a shiver ran up her spine. She retreated to the interior of the laundromat where she watched the car drive away towards downtown Manhattan. She sat down to wait for her clothes to finish washing so that she could transfer them to the dryer, after a minute, picked up a magazine, browsed through it, not really seeing the words and finally put it down again, suddenly gripped by a crushing loneliness as she'd not felt for many years, not since she'd made the decision to move from the family home in Rutland, Vermont to attend college three states away. She sighed and closed her eyes against the thought. The sudden jangling ring of her cell phone startled her and she fished frantically in her jeans pocket for it, finally getting it open on the last ring. "Hey," It was her sister Lizzie.  
Just before the hole had opened in the sky last year, Lizzie and her son Daniel had moved from Manhattan to Far Rockaway after a long marriage and a short divorce. Her ex-husband Daniel Sr. had been killed when one of the ships that had come from the sky had crash landed on his office building. "Have you called mom and dad yet this week?" Sarah sighed. If the truth were known, she actively tried to avoid calling her parents more than a few times a month. The conversations always strayed to her line of work, and what kind of job was that for a woman to have, and then there was always the little remarks about how she wasn't getting any younger, when was she going to find herself a nice man. "I haven't, no, is there anything wrong?" She could hear her sister moving the phone, "Sorry, doing laundry," Sarah smiled, "What a coincidence, so am I." She could hear Lizzie groan,"Mom and dad have been pumping me for information is all." "Oh, speaking of info," Sarah perked up, "Tell me, what do you know about Norse mythology?" Lizzie laughed, "Seriously? Not a damn thing, Daniel however is doing a book report on gods and mythology. You want me to ask him?" Sarah hesitated a moment, "Naw, I had someone suggest it as reading material," "Oh," Lizzie replied, then Sarah heard her sister's muffled voice as she spoke to someone else for a moment "Daniel said that Norse mythology is very dark, The main gods are Odin, Hemdall, Freya, Thor, Loki..." "Loki, what was he?" Sarah asked hunching down over the phone as if she was worried someone would be listening, "Loki was the god of mischief, the trickster, the god of evil," A pause, "but not entirely all bad, he did a lot of good deeds but there always seemed to be an angle for him...wanna tell me why you asked?" Sarah smiled, "It's nothing at all, but it suits him." "Him who?" Lizzie piped up, "Nobody you know, listen I gotta go, the laundry is ready to go into the dryer, I promise I'll call mom and dad later." They said their goodbyes and she hung up. There was plenty of mischief about Loki, she thought to herself as she started to load one of the dryers.


	5. Chapter 5

Loki had sat in Fury's office for the better part of twenty minutes while Fury had threatened and cajoled him about what Loki had termed "just a little outing", whereas Fury had likened it to the black plague being just a bad cold. "I did no harm, I believe I behaved admirably, were you to ask Sarah." Loki said, staring into Fury's one good eye, "If you didn't trust me in the first place, why allow me to return here to Midgard?" Fury frowned as he leaned back in the chair behind his desk, "I don't believe you've given me a reason to trust you yet, or have you suffered a serious case of amnesia?" Here, Loki couldn't resist a smirk, "I let you return here to Earth on account of your brother and he promised to keep you in check for me. Now I don't know what your intentions are and I don't think I'd believe you if you told me so for the time being, you're grounded." Loki sat up in his chair, an incredulous look on his face, "You're grounding me? I'd say I was already pretty well limited to what I can and cannot do here, what more is there?" Fury held up one hand and started to tick off his fingers, "You will not venture into the internal operations department," Loki sat back heavily in his chair, "Oh come on..." Fury interrupted him, "You will spend the next week helping Dr. Banner with that infernal scepter, or whatever it is so that we can get some solid information in the database and move forward with our investigation, You will be in your chambers by ten p.m. at the very latest and you will not venture outside the facility without a proper escort. Is there anything you do not understand?" Loki stood up, agitation moving his feet as he paced back and forth in front of Fury's desk, "So I gather I'm under house arrest and all because I spent the night at a friend's house without your permission..." Fury stood up and walked around his desk to face Loki who'd stopped, arms at his side clenched into fists, "Sarah Miller is not a friend, she is an agent under my care...you really think it's that simple don't you? Well the last time we lost track of you, a good chunk of Midtown Manhattan paid the price and I don't feel like footing the bill again so do us all a favor and start acting like a responsible adult, not a sixteen year old teenager and maybe, just maybe, we can come to an agreement here." Loki looked away at the door of Fury's office, "May I be excused now?" Fury gestured towards the door and watched as Loki left, a dark look on his face. After a moment, Fury sat back down behind his desk, tapped the screen of his computer and brought up the file named Sarah Miller.

Sarah had lied to Lily about Friday night. She had told her that she had suddenly felt ill and decided to stay home in bed. She had refused to tell her anything whatsoever about Loki and after a busy week at the office with no surprise visits, Sarah had already begun to chalk the event up to a happy accident. When she was called to Lab 3 again on Thursday, she was happy for a chance to stretch her legs and venture away from the little cubicle she called Cell number 5. By the time she'd reached the door to the lab, she'd begun to wish she was back in her own little world. There were shouts, muffled words coming from the room, the sounds of an incredible argument. She tapped the panel on the wall and the door slid open. "I don't think you're much help here!" Stark was shouting at Loki, "You've already told us where this weapon comes from and you brandished it like a goddamn magic wand but that's all you really know isn't it?" Loki was poking Stark's chest with one finger, "I told you, I told Fury, and I told the Green Menace over there.." Dr. Banner nodded, mumbled "Thanks, thank you.." "All I know about the scepter is that it worked for me," His jaw clenched tightly then, "And it didn't work out at all like I'd planned it.." Tony glanced over Loki's shoulder and shook his head, looking down at the floor. Loki whirled around and saw Sarah standing at the doorway and his countenance immediately softened. "Sarah," Loki said as he walked over to her, "I'm delighted to see you." She watched Tony and Dr. Banner exchange glances behind his back. "I'm on an office errand, more requisitions." She stepped around Loki and walked up to Dr. Banner who took the pad from her with a slight smile. "I didn't mean to walk in on your discussion, forgive me." Sarah said and glanced over at the scepter which sat on a long stand like a samurai sword, a blue glow emanating from a cube in one end. She could see Loki standing behind her in the reflection from the glass walls surrounding them. Dr. Banner handed her the pad and nodded whereas she turned to leave the lab, her work finished. Loki smiled at her and turned aside to let her pass, "Let me walk you to the elevator."He said as he fell in step with her. "And no further, remember what dad said.." Tony called to him as he stepped into the hallway, making Loki wish for a traditional door to slam in Tony's face. Sarah looked up at Loki, "Dad?" Loki cast an angry glance through the glass at Tony who waved back at him. Loki put a hand against the small of her back and started to guide her down the hall, "Fury, he made me agree to some things in order to make up for my little transgression last Friday night. It's why I haven't been able to pay you a visit upstairs." Sarah nodded, "That's ok, I didn't want people to start asking questions anyway." Loki stopped in mid stride and looked at her, "You didn't wish to see me then?" Sarah could see the hurt in his eyes and she was immediately sorry for what she'd said, "I didn't mean it like that, Loki. I meant that I would prefer that we didn't meet here in...this environment, where people could start talking about us." Loki smiled broadly, "Then where would you like to meet? Fury said I couldn't come to you, he said nothing about you coming to see me...did he?" Fury had said nothing to her in fact, she had expected to be called to his office the first thing Monday morning but never received a summons, she had begun to think that perhaps the agents really had kept their mouths shut as Loki had asked them to. Suddenly Loki was grasping her one free hand in his, "My quarters are on the tenth floor lower levels, room 105. After you've finished work for the evening, come to see me, I'll wait for you at the elevator, I crave your company Sarah." He squeezed her hand gently and she realized his hands were as cold as ice but she didn't pull away from his hold. "If I do that, the Director will definitely be on my case. He'll know right where I am because our badges monitor every move we make." Loki raised an eyebrow, "Then take it off and leave it at your cubicle." Sarah was appalled to realize she'd been thinking of that same option a split second before he'd suggested it. Loki had absently begun to rub her fingers with his hand. "Alright," Sarah sighed, eager to be rid of the distraction of his touch, "I'll come down to see you, just for a few minutes after work...I'll say you hypnotized me if I get in trouble for this, though." Loki gave her hand a final squeeze and let go, "Fair enough, perhaps we can have dinner together," Sarah narrowed her eyes at him, "You can't cook." Loki shrugged, "I'm sure there must be something we can find." Sarah smiled, "I'd suggest takeout but I think it might throw up a red flag or two." Loki laughed at this and Sarah pressed the button to call the elevator. She watched Loki trot back down the corridor to the lab but before the elevator doors shut, Loki had turned to her and laid a finger to his lips with a mischievous grin.

Sarah let out a deep breath in the safety of the elevator compartment. She knew she was slowly being drawn in by Loki's charm, his distressing good looks, his sense of humor, . The realization nearly made her change her mind about the evening's invitation but in the end she knew she was going to be sitting in Loki's quarters by 5:15 that night.

Loki was absolutely giddy for the rest of the afternoon, even taking Tony's jibes with uncharacteristic good nature. There was that small part of him that relished dancing around Fury's orders without actually breaking the rules but the lion's share of his happiness was getting to spend time with Sarah again. His intrigue with her had continued to grow after his departure from her on Saturday morning and the orders from Fury had been pure torture for want of a better word and his irritation hadn't gone unnoticed by the Doctor or Stark, nor had the change in his mood when he was about to leave the lab for the evening. As he was about to walk out into the corridor, Stark called out to him "Hey, the night is young, what about ordering in for a pizza or something, I'll have it delivered right to the front door." Loki shook his head, "I've planned on a quiet evening alone, thank you." He closed his eyes and grimaced at the flimsy excuse he'd made but it was too late to take it back. "Are you sure you don't want to order anything...it's almost supper time, well by normal standards anyway, people get hungry on quiet evenings.." Tony smiled, "Alone." Loki waved a hand towards Stark, "I'm quite sure, goodnight, Mr. Stark, Doctor.." As he sailed past the glass towards the elevator, Stark glanced over at Dr. Banner. "Do you get the feeling he's up to something?" Doctor Banner shrugged, looked back at the monitor he'd been watching, " Cause I do.."

When the elevator door opened outside his quarters, Loki was momentarily disappointed until he spied Sarah standing in the corridor. She turned at the sound of his footsteps and gave him a small grin. "I left my badge at my desk just so you know." Loki laughed as he followed her into his chambers. "You are a bit of a trickster aren't you?" Sarah smirked and sat down on a small couch. "By the way, I talked to my sister, her nephew was studying Norse mythology for a book report, and I asked him about it, remember your little suggestion at my apartment about reading material?" Loki nodded, "Well you must know you're named after the god of mischief. I told her that I knew someone that fit the bill." Loki grinned, "What a coincidence, right?" He'd walked to the small refrigerator that had been provided for him and pulled out two bottles of water and he handed one to her, "Sorry, they don't allow wine or other such spirits here." He sat down on the floor in front of the couch and looked up at her, "You want to know a secret?" Sarah cocked her head to the side, "I am Loki." "Right?" Sarah replied, smiling again. "You said that was your name..." Loki watched as the color seemed to drain from her face, "You're not serious are you?" Loki laughed aloud, "Whatever did you think I was?" Sarah stood up and Loki followed suit, "From out of town I guess, I mean a lot of people live in the country and don't have computers, they don't do laundry, they don't cook...I have to go.." Loki's grin faded as he followed her to the door, "Sarah wait, don't go." Sarah turned at the door panel and stared at him, "You're crazy, you know that? Super heroes, ok I'll buy that, there were a lot of drug addicts in the 60's and 70's, who knows what those drugs did to people, aliens, ok I've always thought we weren't alone..." She put a hand to her forehead and closed her eyes, "But gods? I don't even believe in God himself and now you want me to believe that you're the incarnation of..." Loki held up a hand, "Thor too, mustn't forget the big guy..." Sarah laughed, "Oh yes, the knight in shining armor," Here Loki frowned, "But I can prove it to you," Sarah opened the door and stepped into the hallway, her heart pounding, "No you can't because the gods are stories created by ancient civilizations who didn't have any explanations why the stars moved at night or the sun rose in the day so they made up their own ideas." She looked back at Loki to see anger and desperation in his face. "You think Fury wanted me locked up because I have delusions of grandeur? You think the agents that fetched me last Saturday were just in the neighborhood?" Sarah shook her head, angry tears beginning to form in the corner of her eyes, once again she had hoped for something that was too good to be true. "I didn't think anything, ok? I thought you were part of the Avengers Initiative program.." "But I am," Loki cried, "I am from Asgard.." "Where's that?" Sarah sniffed. Loki leaned his head against the wall of his quarters, "Somewhere way over Northern Scandinavia alright? Please believe me, Sarah. I promise I'll prove it to you." Sarah started to walk down the hallway back towards the elevator. "Sarah, please don't leave like this." Loki said, cutting her off as he stepped in front of her. She looked up at him and a stray tear rolled down her cheek. Loki hesitated, then reached up and wiped it away with his thumb. Sarah turned her head away from him. "I am...so sorry Sarah," Loki said, his voice barely a whisper. He stepped aside and let her continue down the hallway watching as she stepped onto the elevator and let the doors close behind her. His hands curled into fists, he was suddenly trembling, and he let out a bellow of rage as he slammed his fists into the wall outside his quarters over and over again until he was spent, breathless, his cheek pressed against the cool metal, eyes closed, the need to violence rising in him like a relentless tide until he pressed the heels of his hands to his eyes and let out a strangled cry as he slid down the wall to the floor.

Sarah had waited till she was seated back at her desk before the angry tears had started to flow. How silly was it to be so upset about a man she barely knew? To find out he was a raving lunatic on a second date? Here she laughed wryly, A second date, that was what she had said to herself earlier that evening as she headed to his quarters, almost daring to hope Loki hadn't taken an interest in her just for her mind. She'd stood up with her briefcase and shut the light off at her desk when she heard the whoosh of the door at the end of the aisle. She peaked around the edge of her cubicle afraid for who she might find walking towards her. It was Thor and he was striding towards her as if with a purpose. She ducked back behind the cubicle wall just as he reached her. "M'lady Sarah, what is it you have done to put my brother into such a state as I found him a moment ago?" Thor's eyes flashed with anger and for the first time since she'd started at S.H.I.E.L.D. nearly a month ago, she was afraid, but she held her ground. "I'm sorry, what he said to me, I can't believe, and that goes for you too." Thor stared at her, "what did he say to you?" Sarah almost couldn't bring herself to say the words, "He said he was a god, he said you were too, but that's impossible, it's like bringing a fairy tale to life...only happens on Broadway." Thor raised his eyebrows, gave her a small smile and put a hand on her shoulder, "I would not presume to demonstrate for you here but you will realize in time that he speaks the truth. The Doctor, and myself will be going on a short assignment tomorrow, we will need a couple of agents and I have requested you." Sarah sighed and sat down. "I don't really have a choice, do I?" "No you don't, Director Fury will speak with you in the morning. Good evening Sarah." As Thor made his way down the aisle, she laid her head on the desk and sighed.


	6. Chapter 6

She stood in the hallway, keys paused in the first lock on her apartment door. All the energy had drained out of her arms and she leaned forward against the door. It had been a trying day. After Thor had left her cubicle, she had rebooted her computer and attempted to look in the database for Loki's file but found that it was classified restricted level 4 and she wasn't cleared to see it, she did know, however, that the higher the level, the more serious the information so she had shut the computer down and left for home. When she had made her way into the apartment, she dropped her briefcase beside the door, walked to the island in the kitchen, sat down and put her head down on her forearms. She had wanted to stay with Loki, had wanted to talk to him, spend an enjoyable evening outside the confines of her bachelorette pad but what he'd told her had been too much to process. She was beginning to think that maybe this entire assignment wasn't right for her. It was one thing to deal with an assassination attempt on a government official, run crowd control, or accompany diplomats and their families on outings like she had in D.C., it was entirely another to work in an office dealing with superhumans. There was always the chance of the unpredictable in D.C. but here there was a big chance of the unimaginable and Sarah had always considered herself grounded in reality...even if the events of the previous summer had forced her to reconcile herself to the existence of the unknown, even ghosts had been a stretch for her when she was little. She was a follower of her dad's philosophy, if you couldn't see it, hear it or touch it, it wasn't real...though she'd suspected he'd possibly made it up to help her conquer her fear of the dark...and she still slept with a small nightlight in her bedroom. Mr. Whiskers curled himself around her ankles, purring loudly, the dance of the supreme can opening, Sarah called it, and ne'er would he stop until she gave him what he wanted. She stood up and took a can of cat food out of the cupboard while he jumped up on the kitchen counter, taking his usual position, paw on her arm as she waited for the can opener to do its job. When the phone rang, she jumped, set the can on the counter and grabbed the phone while the cat shoved his face into the can and started to eat.

"Hello?" She said, then closed her eyes as she heard her mother's voice, at this point when she was having a crisis of faith, not who she needed to talk to, nevertheless, "Sarah, your sister called and said to call you. Is everything ok?" She paused, she could hear the low mumble of the radio in her mother's kitchen tuned in to NPR and the rattle of a pan with the hiss of running water and suddenly she very much wanted to be back home, to hell with her mother's nagging and worrying, "I'm ok, Mom." "Just, ok?" Her mother replied, and Sarah heard her dad's voice, distant, probably in the living room, "Annie, who you talking to?" Her mother called out that it was Sarah on the phone, her dad replying with a question as to when she was going to come home to visit. "Tell him maybe next weekend, ma." Sarah said into the phone, wondering if her mother had heard her. "Oh that would be great, Sarah. So you didn't tell me why you're just ok." Sarah looked to the counter where the cat had pushed the food tin to the edge of the counter and she managed just in time to catch it before it headed for the floor, and she picked up his food dish and scraped the remaining contents of the can into it, setting it back on the floor. "The job is a little more than I thought it was going to be, the work isn't hard but the office personnel is hard to get used to." "Well haven't you made some friends at least?" Her mother asked. "Yeah, there's a girl in the cubicle next to me, Lily Hoffman, she's nice..we eat lunch together each day. We're planning on a shopping trip this coming weekend...hey I guess that's a plus, the money is good right?" She heard her mother sigh, "If you hate the job it's a chore going to work every day..money isn't everything. Why don't you look for something closer to home?" There it was, "Mom there isn't much call for the Secret Service in Rutland." "So join the local police force here, I'm sure your qualifications would get you right in." Her mother replied, "Mmm no, mom...listen I'm going to get some supper, I'll call you later, I promise I'll try to come up next weekend ok?" Her mother sighed loudly, "Alright, call us, miss you, honey." "Miss you too mom." She said and meant it. That night, she lay in bed listening to the sounds of the street outside her window, the sirens, the shouts of the occasional person passing by, the trucks. Maybe when she visited her parents next weekend, she would talk to the Rutland police department to see if they had any openings.

Sarah had immediately been ushered into Mr. Fury's office when she arrived at work the next morning and at first she thought her little foray into the lower levels had been found out but if it had, Fury didn't mention it. "Miss Miller, yourself and Miss Hoffman will be accompanying two of our high operatives on a short trip to Burlington, Vermont," Upon hearing the location Sarah smiled and for the first time since she'd come to S.H.I.E.L.D., Fury smiled back at her, "It's your home state, it'll be good to see it I'm sure, but that's not why I picked you, it was a request from one of the operatives that you be assigned to this mission. We have been informed of an individual living, or rather hiding in Burlington with...special abilities and we'd like to recruit this individual before other.." Fury handed her a folder, "..interested parties have the chance." She opened the folder and glanced at the contents noting a picture of an older looking man alongside a picture of a house. "You'll be leaving within the hour. Good luck."

She walked into the hangar on the rooftop with Lily where a large jet sat, fuel line still attached from its underbelly to a fuel tank in the hangar floor. An agent waved to them and they walked around to the rear of the jet and up the walkway into its interior. "I'm terrified of flying." Lily whispered to Sarah as she gripped her arm suddenly, "Well why didn't you say that to Fury. He probably would have found someone else." Sarah said as she sat down in one of the seats lining the side walls. "And miss the opportunity for a mission? I'll face my fear head on, I haven't been on a mission in a year." As Sarah was strapping herself into her seat, she heard Thor's voice outside reverberate in the hangar, "Come on, we've made them wait long enough." Thor's huge form silhouetted in the walkway as he walked up the ramp followed by Dr. Banner who gave a small smile and a nod to Sarah and Lily. Thor and Dr. Banner sat down and began to strap in, Thor having a moment of trouble as he stretched the adjustable straps to their limits, Sarah snickered quietly at his distress and Thor looked up at her, realization dawning on the source of her mirth and smiled at her, "I have the same problem with clothes, they do not stretch as I would like them to, more often they rip." Here Thor flexed his pectorals for emphasis which made Sarah and Lily both break out in laughter. There was a clink and a metallic clang as the fuel line was detached from the belly of the jet which whined to life, the back wash coming up the ramp and tousling their hair as if reassuring them this was going to be a fun ride. "Sarah glanced towards the cockpit at the pilot momentarily and was startled by the sound of footsteps running up the walkway. She turned her head to see Loki sliding into a seat beside Thor and her heart began to race. "Brother, I was sure you weren't going to make it." "I was talking with Fury and you know how that usually goes." Loki grumbled. Sarah made a concerted effort not to look up at Loki though she could feel him staring at her, could see his stiffened posture from her peripheral vision. She bent her head with Lily, who was looking at her tablet, trying to distract her from the fact that they were ready to take off. The walkway rose and thumped into place, the pilot said something into his microphone and the clear response "Cleared for takeoff" in reply. The entire platform of the hangar began to rise as the roof retracted to the floor and suddenly the were rising

above the Manhattan skyline.

As the jet started to speed over the landscape, leaving the tall buildings behind, Sarah ventured to look up but Loki was turned to Thor talking in whispered tones, seemingly agitated and she strained to hear what he was saying but the sound was lost in the high pitched whine of the engines, "You didn't tell me she was coming with us, that's all there is to it." Loki said, and Thor shrugged his massive shoulders, "You did not ask me who was coming," When Loki opened his mouth to protest, Thor held up a hand, "And if you wanted her to know the truth, maybe there will be an opportunity on this mission." Loki turned and looked across the aisle at Sarah who quickly lowered her gaze back to her tablet, "It won't prove anything, nothing I show her will convince her and I'm not sure I want to now." He did though, he wanted to grab her by the arm and whisk her away to Asgard, maybe frighten her just a little for the things she'd said. "It would be no different than the green menace," Dr. Banner looked across Thor, "Really, all the time?" "Or Stark or the super soldier. Superhero feats of strength but no evidence of what we really are." Thor looked at Loki, "Why must she believe what we are brother? Why isn't it enough that she believe in what we can do?" Loki looked away, silent for the moment. "It's true, Loki, you want her to know what you are because you are trying to impress her, but you've only served to terrify her. These are human beings, the scope of their beliefs are limited at best. They tend only to believe what they see" Loki turned to glare at his brother and made to grumble a reply at him but none came to him. He turned away and kept his gaze trained at the floor of the jet for the remainder of the trip.

They landed at Burlington International Airport a little over an hour later where a black van was waiting on the tarmack for them. As they drove away from the jet, Thor, who'd set in the front seat, turned towards the back to talk to them. "We're headed to a place called the Billings Library, it's on a college campus according to Director Fury. There we will find Mr. Dowd. He works as a librarian there." Sarah heard a derisive snort from behind her seat, it was Loki "A librarian, truly? Fury has sent us to recruit a librarian? What makes him so special, does Fury need him to rearrange the library at his townhouse?", "Did you not read the folder I gave you in the jet?" Thor asked him. Sarah glanced back at Loki who shook his head, a meek look upon his face, "I did," Dr. Banner spoke up, "Craig Dowd can manipulate matter on a molecular level, in other words, he can change a liquid to a solid or a gas and vice versa, he also has a perimeter, he can't affect anything or anyone beyond a certain distance but how far is currently unknown. He was born in Glasgow, Scotland in 1962, emigrated here to the states in 1983 and graduated college with a doctorate in library sciences in 1989. He moved to Burlington in 2000 and became head librarian at Billings that same year" By the time he'd finished, they were all staring at him, "What, Thor said read it so I read it." "Well done,"Thor bellowed, "Now the Director doesn't want any of us to engage a potential hostile lest he feel threatened. Ms. Hoffman and Ms. Miller will approach him first and we will be nearby through the library, we will need to keep a low profile." This time it was Banner's turn to laugh, "Forgive me but you guys haven't looked in the mirror lately have you? Even in street clothes you stand out like sore thumbs. The only normal looking ones here are Sarah and Lily," He nodded to them. "Why in the world is he sending two agents to engage a person like Mr. Dowd?" Loki spoke up, "The only defense they have are their guns and their brains. If he really is hostile, they wouldn't stand much of a chance." "Hey," Lily cried, "We're still agents, we've got a better chance than most. I've seen my fair share of fights." Loki rolled his eyes but Thor interrupted them. "Fury's orders were specific. The agents present a nonthreatening front and we are there for back up." The van had rolled to a stop in the parking lot of the library and they all got out, surveying the Romanesque structure before them. Thor adjusted the strap on his wrist communicator as the Doctor handed out the rest of them to the group. " Myself, Loki and the doctor will go in one by one and locate Mr. Dowd. Sarah, you and Lily will follow and we will lead you to him." Thor said. A couple of girls with an armful of books walked by staring at the group, giggling as they passed by. "We're already starting to attract attention, come on."

Thor had gestured down a long corridor of books where an older gentleman stood. He was dressed in a brown suit, his coat opened to reveal a white buttondown shirt, a cane draped over his arm. His hair was shoulder length and his face bore the look of a man worn from a hard life, his dark brown eyes belying the fact in their brightness. Sarah walked up to him with Lily a step behind, "Excuse us, Mr. Dowd?" Sarah said, and the man turned to her, "Can I help ye, gels?" He asked in a brogue dulled by his years in the states. "Yes you can, Mr. Dowd. We'd like a word with you in private if we may." Mr. Dowd gave a puzzled smile and chuckled, "I'm no in trouble am I? You're not wi' the police?" Sarah shook her head, "No we've come to talk to you about a specialty that you have. Our organization would like to meet with you at our offices." Mr. Dowd nodded his head slowly and Sarah cast a glance through the stacks to her right, locking eyes with Loki two aisles away. "Indeed, I'll be happy to talk with you gels but we canna talk here, follow me this way." He took his cane from his arm and limped away down the aisle. Sarah saw a metal door with a red EXIT sign above it at the end of the rows of books and looked behind her for any of the rest of the team as Mr. Dowd opened the door and gestured for them to walk through. He turned to them as the door closed and suddenly Sarah felt like she was standing on a hill of sand, she turned to Lily as she let out a shriek and realized they were sinking into the pavement. She struggled to regain her footing but only managed to drop to her right knee when the sinking feeling stopped and pain shot through her feet up to her shins. She looked up at Mr. Dowd, mouth open wide as he closed his hand and she realized the ground had solidified around her legs. She looked at Lily who had fallen forward, her right forearm into the ground, eyes wide with fear. "Now ye'll tell me how you found me and why Professor Xavier is still looking for me." Mr. Dowd said, his face grim.

Loki trotted into the main foyer of the library looking around frantically for Thor and the Doctor. "They disappeared, where the hell are you guys?" He hissed into the communicator on his wrist. Thor came up to him from behind, "Did you see them when they walked away?" Loki shook his head, " I tried to follow them but I didn't see where they went, I was blocked by an old woman and I didn't think it would be a good idea to shove her down given the circumstances." Thor looked around and said, "You go outside and check around the exterior, I will find the Doctor and we will search in here." Loki took the stairs to the entrance in large bounds and straight armed the doors open, looking to his left and right as he flew down the outside steps then veered to his right around the building perimeter.

"What do ye mean you've never heard of the Professor? No one else knows about me. Xavier and his school in Westchester have been trying to contact me for the past five years. Don't lie to me!" Mr. Dowd shouted as Sarah felt herself sink further into the ground and she struggled to find a solid handhold. "Please stop it, Mr. Dowd, we aren't with this school you're talking about, we're from another agency entirely, we've come here with an invitation to New York city to.." "Shut it," Mr. Dowd growled, "Ye can stay here until doomsday or tell me the truth."

Loki scanned the grounds of the library. He was beginning to tremble with anger. He rounded the far end of the library and started to run until he spotted an alleyway where he skidded to a halt. At the end of the alleyway, he could see Mr. Dowd with his back turned to him but beyond that, he could see Sarah and Lily who seemed to be nearly prone to the ground before him. Before he'd gotten a couple feet down the alley, Sarah met his eyes and gave an imperceptible shake of her head and suddenly Mr. Dowd was staring behind her, "Who the hell are you?" from the corner of her eye, she could see Loki behind her but he was coming up behind Mr. Dowd. A hologram? He could project his own image? "The sound of the gravel beneath his boot caused Mr. Dowd to whirl around and face Loki only feet away from him. "Watch the perimeter!" Sarah cried, she had sunk into the ground up to her ribcage and the pressure on her chest was incredible. Lily tried frantically to reach around with her good hand for her side holster. Loki felt the ground beneath him starting to give away and he leaped backwards landing on his back on the pavement. "We're outside around the back of the building," he shouted into the communicator as Mr. Dowd backed away from him towards the girls. "Back off or I'll sink them to the bedrock, do ye ken?" Sarah looked past Mr. Dowd to Loki whose skin color was starting to darken to a cold blue hue, as he stood up and stared at Mr. Dowd, she could see the glow of his eyes which had turned blood red and she looked away, terrified. Mr Dowd put his hand up and was knocked off balance as a large blade of ice flew past his head to crash against the wall of the building behind him, another sliver of ice struck him in the side and he dropped to one knee, quickly recovering before Loki could take another step. Suddenly the door they'd come through in the first place opened wide and Thor burst through the opening, grabbing Mr. Dowd in a strong embrace. "Stop this struggle right now, we mean you no harm!" Thor shouted but Mr. Dowd was pushing him off balance and when Thor hit the wall of the library against his back, it was like sinking into feathers as he kept falling through the wall until his arms were securely stuck in place in the wall and he was trapped inside the library where people were starting to gather and stare. Loki snarled at Mr. Dowd as he walked towards him, "My brother will free himself and you will pay the price for it." Mr. Dowd smiled and waved his hand towards the left wall of the alley which started to melt and crumble. "I think not, you and your group should be on your way and leaving me to my work." A thud above their heads made Loki look up and smile as a roar split the late morning air of the campus. The Hulk landed on the ground between Loki and Mr. Dowd and grabbed him by the shoulders with a roar. Loki rushed to Sarah and Lily, dropping to his knees in time to duck the hammer that was headed for Thor's outstretched hand. Loki pulled desperately at the rubble surrounding Sarah, "Thor please hurry!" He cried as Thor stepped from the gaping hole that had been the library wall. Thor struck the ground with Molijnr and Sarah felt the shockwave and the sudden release as the pavement around her turned to powder. The Hulk still held a dumbstruck Mr. Dowd by the shoulders, growling whenever he would struggle to free himself. As Loki and Thor helped the girls to stand up, Mr Dowd shouted, "Okay, I'll talk to you whatever you want, just get this beastie to put me down."

Sarah sat down roughly against the wall of the library and put her head in her hands. Thor and Loki stood talking to Mr. Dowd a short distance away. Dr. Banner came over to her and sat down next to her. He'd run to the van for a fresh shirt. "Pretty impressive Doctor." She said, too tired and sore to say much more. Dr. Banner gave a shy smile, "You can try it next time then."

"Our organization is called S.H.I.E.L.D. and we've nothing to do with this professor you speak of. I have heard Director Fury mention him but that's all." Thor said, arms crossed in irritation. Mr. Dowd looked down at the ground then at the hole in the library wall where people were standing, taking pictures with their cell phones. "I dinna mean to cause any trouble, I was afraid. Can you understand? I've met a few of Xavier's mutants and I don't want anything to do wi' them. What makes your organization any different?" Thor looked at Loki who said, "It's easy, we're the good guys." Banner coughed at that and Loki cast him a searing look. "You can come with us or you can come down on your own, all we ask is that you come." Mr. Dowd shoved his hands in his pockets. "What's in it for me? Is it all you want to do, talk to me? Or are you planning on dissecting me?" Dr. Banner had stood up and now walked over to them. "We would probably run a few harmless tests to see why you can do what you do." Mr. Dowd shook his head, but Banner continued, "Come on, aren't you the least bit curious yourself?" Mr. Dowd looked up at the Doctor. "Well how are you getting back to New York yourselves?" "We have a jet," Sarah called to him.

Mr. Dowd tightened the straps of his seat slowly as he stared around the interior of the jet. Loki slid into place beside Sarah and started to strap in as the engine whined slowly upward. She could feel the heat from his body against hers and she started to say something but stopped herself. She reached down into her duffle and pulled out her tablet and glanced over at Lily who had put her head back against the seat and closed her eyes. As the plane rose in the air, she could see Loki looking at the tablet out of the corner of her eye and she turned and held the tablet out to him but he merely looked at it, put his head back and closed his eyes as well.

The jolt of the landing in New York woke her from a light doze and she undid the straps quickly, ready to be back home again. Loki had already stepped off the jet and was walking with Thor and Mr. Dowd towards the interior door of the hangar. She started to walk a little more quickly to try and catch up with them but decided against it as the door closed after them.

When Sarah and Lily finally reached Fury's office, the others were inside waiting for them. Fury nodded at them as they stepped inside. Mr. Dowd was absent, having been escorted away by two agents, preparing him for his own private debriefing with Director Fury. "I've spoken with the agents we had waiting in Burlington, the library will be taken care of. Thank you for managing not to take the building down entirely." Fury said, hands behind his back. Banner looked down at the floor. "Despite having forced Mr. Dowd to use his power in desperation and making for a whole slew of videos on Youtube," Sarah chanced a glance at Loki knowing she would see him smiling which he was, "the team did reasonably well, no one got killed, no one got injured, and we got our man. I would like to see individual reports on this from my two agents." He looked at Sarah and Lily, " You're free to go."

Sarah and Lily stepped out into the hall. "I'm going to be sore for days," Lily groaned, hands behind her back as she stretched. Sarah nodded, "Me too." The door to Fury's office slid open again and Thor, Loki and Banner stepped out and started down the hallway past them but Loki's step slowed until he was standing still, Thor turned to look at him but Banner took his arm and kept walking until Thor turned and continued down the hallway. Sarah looked at Lily, "I'll catch up with you later." She said and trotted down the hall to where Loki was standing. When she caught up to him, he turned to her. "Reasonably well, Fury isn't much for giving compliments is he," She said, feeling she'd been trying to be a bit too cheerful afterwards. "No, he fears the team might begin to feel too good about itself, become too confident." Loki replied, staring down at the floor. Suddenly he began to walk and Sarah trotted to keep up with the pace of his long strides. "I'm going to be all day tomorrow writing that damn report." She said, wincing at the small talk she was trying to make but wanting him to stop and acknowledge her in some way. He kept walking, silent until they were at the elevator to the lower levels and he pushed the call button. "I wonder why they don't make you guys write them too." She pondered. Loki stared at her until she felt compelled to run down the hall the way they'd come, back to her cubicle and hide under her desk. The elevator door slid open but Loki didn't step inside and it slid shut again. Sarah clasped her hands behind her back, hesitated, then said, "Um, you missed the.." "What is it you want to say to me?" Loki interrupted her, a tremor in his voice. Sarah looked down at the floor then up at Loki. "I don't know alright? Jesus, I can't think of a way to start." Loki said nothing, turned and punched the call button again. The doors to the elevator slid open and he stepped in. Sarah watched the door slide shut behind him and heard the hum as the elevator started on its journey. Her throat stung as she held back tears of frustration. She walked to the panel, her hand hovered over the call button for a moment but she turned and walked slowly back down the hallway to her office.

Tony watched Loki walk past him, head down as he trotted up the stairs to the training platform. He put down the pad he had in his hands and followed him. Loki was in the uniform room stripped to the waist when Tony stepped inside. "Hey you guys didn't tell me you were back. How did vacation go? Did you guys make it to the beach at all?" Loki said nothing but grabbed the robe of a gi from a hook and started to tie it. Tony shrugged, "I thought you'd have fun with the girls along for company but I guess not, huh." Loki hesitated, "You all came back safe too, heard you even put on a show.." Loki looked up, eyes blazing, "Leave me alone metal man." Tony raised an eyebrow and stepped back feigning surprise, "Finally a nickname I can call my own, I'm going to tell Banner this one, ya know I was going to ask you to join us at Stark tower tomorrow night and this is the thanks I get." Loki pushed the button on the panel beside the entrance to the training room. "I've no wish to join your little soiree. Excuse me." He stepped inside the training room. As the door slid shut, Tony shouted, "Hey it's not good to go to bed angry at each other, remember that.." He watched Loki walk away from the door and kneel in the center of the room. "Little soiree, my ass.." Tony grumbled as he hopped back down the stairs.

Loki let the water of the shower course over him, hard and as hot as he could stand it. His muscles screamed with relief and the ache slowly drained from his arms, his back, his legs. He had worked out for nearly an hour, every time his thoughts strayed to Sarah, he had pushed himself a little harder but try as he might, he couldn't force her from his mind. He made himself stay in the training room till he was sure she'd gone home for the evening, well after her shift had ended. He feared he would be compelled to seek her out and when he stepped out of the shower and grabbed a towel from the rack, he felt the need stronger now than ever. As he was fastening his jeans, he heard the door to the shower room slide open and he looked up to see Thor walking towards him, a towel over his shoulder. "Tony said you'd be here." Thor set the towel down and drew off his shirt, Loki shook his head, "Tony was right, enjoy your shower." Loki started for the door, "Talk to her brother, heal this rift between the two of you." Loki looked back at Thor, "I wasn't the one who made it." and walked through the door to the hallway.

Sarah had made a change of plans that weekend, calling her mother and telling her she would be home this Saturday instead of the next but she greatly regretted driving the distance instead of taking the train which would have been faster. All she could manage to think about was Loki and she knew she had to stop. She felt that she had permanently damaged her budding relationship with him and that moment in the hallway had confirmed it. She smacked her hand against the steering wheel, urging more speed out of her old Kia Sorrento.

When she finally pulled into the dooryard of her parents house on the outskirts of Rutland, she was exhausted but elated to be home. When she walked into the living room her father stood up from his easy chair and hugged her in a tight embrace. "Sarah Bean glad you're home," Sarah Bean had been his nickname for her since she'd been born and her father had mentioned that she curled up just like a kidney bean in her crib at night, the name stuck affectionately. Sarah and her father walked into the kitchen where her mother was busy finishing supper. "I was hoping you'd make it in time to eat. I wish you could have convince Liz to come with you." Sarah shrugged, she'd begged her to come with her, she'd wanted to have someone to talk to on the way north but Lizzie had made other plans. "Maybe next time. What are we having tonight?"

Sarah relaxed into the chaise lounge on the porch, full of roast beef and potatoes, corn and rhubarb pie, in her hand a beer she was nursing. Her mother and father sat in patio chairs on either side of her. The sounds here in the country were a soothing balm to the noise of the city. Peepers in the wetlands across the road serenaded them and Sarah thought it was a bit late in the season for them. She took a sip of beer and grimaced. "Why do you drink it if you don't like the taste, Bean?" Her father asked an amused smile on his face, he was a giant of a man, six foot two with dark blue eyes and dark brown hair, barrel chested, weighing 280 and not a pound under. "I drink it to get drunk, dad. Not for the taste, trust me, I need this." her father's smile faded a bit, "That's not good. Don't want it to become a habit." Sarah shook her head, "It's not going to...I hope." Her mother glanced over at her, "Don't kid like that Sarah. What's bothering you?" Sarah readjusted herself in the chaise and ran her finger around the rim of the bottle, "It's nothing I can really talk about...no It's something I don't want to talk about." Her mother persisted though, "Is it work related? Did you get in trouble or something?" Sarah shook her head, "It's about someone mom." regretting it as she said it but secretly wanting a comforting word even if it would change nothing. Her mother sat up straight, "Is it a man? Are you seeing someone in New York?" Sarah laughed, "No mom, not seeing anyone." Her mother sighed, "Don't you want to have kids and a husband? I would love grandbabies." Sarah looked at her mother, "I think you've got that in reverse, husband first, grandbabies second and you have Daniel." Her mother sighed and sat back in her chair, "What about a granddaughter? A little girl I can dress up in frilly outfits and buy dolls and crazy hair ties for." Sarah shrugged, "Don't know what to tell you. I'll get back to you on that."

Sarah lay in her old bed listening to the silence save for the hum of the fan. She was seized by a sudden urge to call the office, to get someone to bring Loki to the phone even if he told her simply to shut up and leave him alone. She decided she would have to try and talk to him that Monday and take what he had to say to her like the strong woman she was, she would have no peace until she had done so, of that she was sure.


	7. Chapter 7

By mid- morning on Monday, she had her report on disc and had sent it to Fury's office. Lily had told her she'd missed a busy sales weekend. Sarah apologized and promised she would go shopping with her later in the week. On requisition day, Sarah had gone to the lab but only Dr. Banner was there and he seemed distracted. The long scepter that had been a permanent fixture on the table in the lab was missing. She started to venture a question when Dr. Banner saw where she was looking and smiled slightly, "Oh, Thor and Loki took it for the day. Table looks empty without it doesn't it." Sarah handed him the tablet, "What did they take it for," She hesitated, "If I'm asking the wrong questions, please tell me." Dr. Banner shook his head, "Not at all. They took it to go to Asgard, right now it's the only way they can travel there until some bridge is rebuilt.." Sarah felt herself break into a cold sweat. "Asgard..." Banner nodded, "Yeah, back home. They won't be gone long but Loki can't take the scepter alone, Fury's orders so Thor went with him." Sarah couldn't make herself take the tablet that Banner held out to her so he slowly put it on the table where the scepter had been. "Miss Miller, are you okay?" Sarah nodded, "So Asgard is..." "Their home, yes." Banner replied, a slight edge of irritation in his voice, "Loki said something about it to me, about you not believing him." Sarah shook her head, "I don't, I didn't..." She reached over, grabbed the tablet from the table and swiftly walked out of the lab. "Thank you, you're welcome, have a good day." Banner mumbled after her as her turned back to his computer screens.

Sarah stayed in her cubicle on her lunch hour on the internet. She had brought up websites on Norse mythology, Asgard, the Rainbow bridge, Thor, Loki...trying to reconcile in her head what she was reading with the dark charismatic man she had set next to on the jet, let stay in her apartment, who'd held her hand and begged her company..."Of course myths are just that aren't they.." She'd said to herself aloud. "He couldn't have been that bad.." She thought of the classified level 4 file, on impulse shut down the computer, and sat there, in the silence of the office.

Loki looked about him as the training room shimmered with blue fire and solidified into reality. He let go of the scepter, his face slick with cold sweat, as he staggered back a step. "I will take this back to the lab, brother." Thor said turning away towards the door. Loki stepped into the bathroom in his quarters and splashed cold water on his face. He had much preferred travel by the Bifrost but as that still wasn't possible, this would have to do. The throb from the power of the scepter still ran through his hands and thoughts of darker times filled his mind. He sat down on his bed and lay back, arm across his eyes to shut out the light and was asleep in seconds.

The beep at the door of his chamber started him awake. He sat up, "Enter." The door slid open and Sarah walked in. Loki stood up slowly from the bed and out into the living room. She was clearly agitated, pacing back and forth in front of the door. "Can I help you?" He asked dropping down heavily onto the couch, his arms crossed. "Does Fury know you're here?" Sarah looked at him, blinked, "Um, I don't know. Why are you asking?" Loki sighed, "Aren't you afraid of getting in trouble?" Sarah put her hand to her forehead, "With who, you or Fury?" Loki could resist a small chuckle, "I'm not sure which would be worse." Sarah smiled but the corners of her mouth trembled. She took a deep breath, "I heard you went home today." Loki nodded. "I did indeed, I wanted to speak to my father about things troubling me. I heard you went home this weekend yourself." Sarah sat on the couch beside Loki. "Yeah, didn't get me very far though. I couldn't stop thinking about you." She didn't dare look at him as she felt him shift position. "I kept telling myself either you were crazy or I was. Tell me what happened to you on the mission. Why you changed like you did." Loki put his fingertips to his temples and rubbed them, "I was born of the Jotun, frost giants on the world called Jotunheim. I was a small baby left to die in a temple by my father, Laufey, ruler of the frost giants. Odin found me and raised me as his son." Sarah nodded vigorously, "Okay, sounds like what I read..." Loki looked at her, "Doing homework?" Sarah glanced up at him and quickly away, "Just trying to prepare myself." Loki sat forward on the couch, "Sometimes the truth is more terrible than the lie isn't it." Sarah nodded again and suddenly felt his hand slip beneath hers where she'd placed it on the couch. "Thor is right, you don't need to believe me. I only ask that you accept me. Maybe in time I can show you if that's what you require." He squeezed her hand gently and this time she was able to turn and face him. "I have missed your company more than you know, Sarah." He leaned forward and kissed her hand for a long minute hoping to still the trembling there. "I've missed you too." Sarah replied, her head swimming, Loki looked up at her and in that moment was struck to the core of his very being. He had been wrong, completely wrong. It wasn't the need for company, the desire to learn more about Midgard or even the chance to prove himself, it was Sarah. He swallowed hard and sat back into the couch, the thought sinking into his brain that this human woman had awakened feelings in him he had thought long buried as his ambitions had turned his mind to a darker purpose. His heart racing, he stood up from the couch abruptly. Sarah stood with him, a quizzical look on her face. "Are you alright?" Loki looked at her as if seeing her for the first time and she put a hand on his shoulder, "Hey don't zone out on me." Loki nodded, a slight pause then a smile, "Sarah, we have much more to learn about each other." Sarah smiled back at him, "Maybe Fury would let you go on another outing with me. I'm an agent after all. You would probably have to ask his permission." Loki turned his head, "What kind of outing?" Sarah thought for a minute, "I told my sister Lizzie that I would go see my nephew's softball game this weekend. She lives in Far Rockaway. That's not far," She giggled, "Despite the name"She could only imagine what Lizzie would do when she showed up with a man the likes of Loki on her arm..She would have to wrestle the phone from her to stop her from calling her mother. "Softball," Loki said, "And this is a game Midgardians play?" Sarah nodded, "We can try and ask can't we?" Loki put his hands on her shoulders, "I will follow you wherever you lead, Sarah." He leaned over and kissed her forehead, the touch enough to catch the breath in his throat. Sarah looked up at him, a sudden urge to pull him into an embrace running through her mind. "I'm go..going to leave before I do catch hell for being here." She stammered. As the door closed behind her, Loki was already thinking up an argument for Fury in his head.

Fury shook his head, "No, I cannot let you go one on one with an agent. You need at least two accompanying you." Loki slammed his hand down on Fury's desk, "What are you afraid of, damnit? Do you think I intend to harm Sarah in any way? If I am a prisoner than put me in a cell, don't tease me with this semblance of freedom." Fury stared at him, "I don't think you intend to harm Ms. Miller at all, that's what has me sorely vexed at this point, and this semblance of freedom as you call it, is your own doing don't you think?" Loki paced to the door and back, "You don't think you can trust me but I assure you, you're wrong. What about the mission we just went on, didn't I behave then?" Fury looked down, paused, "Yes you did. You made a concentrated effort for the good of the team." Fury templed his hands in front of his face, "Let me think about this. I'll tell you my decision later."

Sarah looked up at Loki standing by her desk. "Thor is going with us?" Loki nodded, "He wouldn't let me go alone with you, he said that at least two agents were needed." Sarah shoved him playfully, "Hey at least he didn't say absolutely not." Loki crossed his arms, "No he said bring the jolly giant with you. Insufferable that Fury doesn't trust us alone." Sarah shrugged, "Take it for what it is Loki. A permission slip to get out of this place for the day."

Saturday dawned clear and warm. Sarah had chosen a yellow sundress with spaghetti straps, maybe she could work up a tan this year. She put her hair up, took it down and put it up again, finally deciding to leave it up. Mr. Whiskers followed her through the apartment receiving a misguided shove more than once for being in the way. So excited was she for the day's events that she nearly forgot to lock the door when she left and had to trudge back up two flights of stairs to do so. Thor and Loki were standing outside the front doors of the office when she arrived. Thor had on a white t shirt, tan pants and a jean jacket looking for all the world like it'd been painted on him. Loki was dressed in a dark blue shirt, sleeves rolled up with blue jeans and he had his coat draped over his arm. He smiled at her as she trotted up to them. "You look lovely, Miss Miller."Thor remarked. Loki glared at him and offered Sarah his arm which she took and held tightly. "Indeed Sarah, you are a vision." Sarah felt the blush rising to her cheeks, "And I'm here between two handsome young men, how lucky am I." She felt Loki pull her in towards him and she smiled to herself.

The train ride was long and they chatted between themselves, trying to ignore the stares they were receiving throughout the car. "Do I look so strange to everyone?" Thor whispered to Sarah, who shook her head, "Take them as compliments, it's not often they get a man of your calibur on this route." Thor nodded thoughtfully. Loki however, couldn't take his eyes off Sarah and when she leaned into him, he put his arm on the seat behind her and felt her head rest against his chest. He was starting to wish the ride would never end but soon they were stepping off the train and Sarah was searching the parking lot for Lizzie's car. Lizzie pulled up to the curb in a small SUV rolled down the window, and waved to Sarah, "Hey the train is on time today." When she saw Thor and Loki walking up behind Sarah, her eyes grew wide. "Get in, we gotta be there at…one-thirty…" Her words died away as she looked in the rearview mirror at the two men sitting on either side of Daniel in the back seat. Lizzie leaned over to Sarah and whispered, "I've seen the blond on the news before, isn't he.." "Lizzie, these are my friends…" She hesitated, "Um Thor and Loki, I work with them, let's go.." "Good day, M'lady." Thor replied and Loki gave a quick nod. Sarah watched as Lizzie slowly put the SUV in gear and rolled away from the curb. As they headed through the city streets to the ballfield, Sarah glanced in the rearview mirror as her nephew looked first at Thor then at Loki and back again. Suddenly Daniel, who'd just turned ten, looked at Thor and said, "Are you really a superhero?" Sarah turned in the seat to see Thor smile and nod, "I am, and Loki is my brother," Daniel turned to Loki who smiled at him as well and Daniel looked back to Thor, "You must keep it a secret though, little brother." At this Daniel turned his head to the side, "Why, don't you like him?" "He means about the superhero bit, Daniel, not Loki." Sarah said, suppressing a laugh as she glanced at Loki who was staring out the window at the scenery, a grim look on his face. "Well that answers my question," Lizzie said as she pulled into the parking lot of the ball field. "What question," Sarah asked. "If he had a brother to spare."

Sarah sat between Lizzie and Loki on the bleachers waiting for the game to begin. Thor had wandered down to the dugout where a group of boys had gathered to stare up at him. "You must tell me how this game is played my little friends." Thor was saying, Lizzie shouldered Sarah and leaned in close, "You didn't exactly tell me that you worked in that kind of office. Thor has been all over the news for months since the invasion in the city." Sarah shrugged, "This is a special circumstance, I was originally going to bring Loki alone but.." She looked at Loki, "His brother wanted to come with us." "Thor and Loki," Lizzie glanced over at Loki, "Your mother named you after gods?..Where are you from?" Before Loki could open his mouth, Sarah said, "New York.", Lizzie nodded, then said, "Where did you grow up then?" Loki glanced at Sarah, "Northern Europe," Sarah replied as she saw Loki shake his head and lean backwards against the backrest of the seat. Beside the dugout, Thor had squatted down and was talking to Daniel's team animatedly. "Look at him," Loki groused, "The world's biggest cheerleader." Sarah turned to Loki, "Are you okay?" Loki looked at her, "I just wanted to spend time with you without feeling like I'm still under house arrest." Sarah shushed him but thankfully Lizzie was more interested in the game which had finally gotten underway. Sarah leaned in close to Loki, "We are spending time together," She took his arm, locking it with hers and laced her fingers between his own. Loki began to tremble and she squeezed his hand. "Sure you're alright?" Sarah asked him a worrisome look on her face. " Loki gave a quick nod, suddenly a cheer went up as a play was made and Sarah let go of his hand to clap her approval. "Daniel is pretty sharp out there isn't he." Sarah said to Lizzie, "Yes he is, and your friend there is getting right into it isn't he." They watched Thor, fingers gripping the fence, shouting encouragement to the boys. Sarah relaxed against the backrest. "What do you think of the game?" She asked turning to Loki who shrugged nonchalantly, "It's not like anything we played at…home" He finished, looking at Sarah who smiled at him, "Our games are a bit rougher." "Look at that sky," Lizzie interjected, "I think we're going to get rained out" Sarah looked up at the sky where clouds had started to gather and darken. Ten minutes later, they were standing under the eaves of the snack bar roof watching the sky light up while the rain poured down. "Well that's that," Lizzie said as she saw the coaches shake hands.

The heat in the car made Sarah feel like her wet clothes were plastered on her. "That sucks, did you guys win, Daniel?" Sarah asked. "Daniel shook his head, "We were behind when the rain started so the win goes to the other team." Thor sitting beside him said, "Little brother, if you tried your best, that is all you can do. It's not whether you win or lose, it's how hard you tried. If you gave it your best effort, that's what matters." Thunder rumbled outside the car. "Hey you guys want to stay for supper?" Lizzie said, turning to Sarah, "Regretfully we cannot, M'lady. We have to return to the office." Sarah thought Thor was going to tell Lizzie why and was relieved when he elaborated no further. After Lizzie had hugged Sarah in a tight embrace and given her kiss on the cheek, she had driven away leaving them at the station, and they stood under the shelter on the platform waiting for the train. Loki had draped his jacket around Sarah's shoulders to keep her warm as the cold air from the storm had begun to settle in. The soothing rhythm of the rocking car on the train as it rolled back towards the city lulled her into a light sleep and she woke up as the car rolled to a quick stop in Grand Central terminal. When they finally reached the foyer of the office, Sarah stepped inside with Thor and Loki, "I'll walk you to your quarters," Sarah said, falling in step with Loki as they walked to the elevator to the lower levels. As the elevator began its descent, Sarah glanced at Loki, "You really weren't yourself today." Loki leaned back against the elevator wall, "I've much on my mind, Sarah. Forgive me, I didn't mean to spoil the afternoon." Sarah walked over to him, "You didn't, I just want to know what's troubling you." The doors slid open and they stepped out into a deserted hallway. "When I went home the other day, I spoke to my father about something. I cannot discuss it with you." Sarah nodded, looking crestfallen. Loki put a hand on her shoulder, "I promise someday soon I will tell you but I cannot now." She managed a small smile, "I'm going to get going home." "We could've brought you to the apartment. I don't like the thought of you walking the streets of this city by yourself." Loki said, then he put a hand beneath her chin and tilted her face up to him. "You could stay here with me tonight." Her pulse quickened as the thought of being alone with him again but she shook her head. "No, we managed to get into Fury's good graces. Let's keep it that way. I'll try to see you on Monday." Sarah said and turned to go but Loki had taken hold of her hand and held it tightly. "Wait Sarah," She turned back to face him, "Come to see me tomorrow if you can." Sarah squeezed his hand, "If I badge into the building on a Sunday, Fury is going to start asking questions.." Loki pulled her closer to him until they were inches apart. "I care little for what Fury thinks. I want you here with me." The weight of what he was saying to her suddenly hit her. This couldn't be happening, it couldn't but she was rising up to him as he leaned into her and their lips touched, so slowly, gentle, then he heard her draw breath sharply as the pressure intensified, her hands sliding up to the middle of his back, her fingers curled slightly so that he could feel the light scratch of her fingernails, then her lips parted, opened against his and she shuddered in his arms when she felt their tongues brush tip to tip, she moaned softly into his mouth. The sensation nearly dropped him to his knees and he slid his hands down to her hips as the kiss deepened into passion, fierce, ardent, the sensation weakening his balance causing him to lean against the wall for support, their breath coming in short gasps now as he broke the kiss to seek other places, the curve of her jawline, the nape of her neck, her collarbone, the hollow at the base of her throat, she slid her hand to the back of his head, fingers entwined in his jet black hair, suddenly afraid to let go for fear she would drop to her knees.."Loki," She groaned, "We have to stop." He nipped gently at her earlobe, with a whispered "Why?" 'Yes why' Sarah wondered to herself but her mind couldn't begin to form a coherent thought. Loki brought his hands up to cup her face and his lips were upon hers again, his kiss becoming stronger, more insistent now. She put a hand on the wall behind him to steady herself and the ensuing beep both made them jump until they realized that she had touched the wall panel for the door to his quarters but it served to bring them back to their senses and he touched his forehead to hers as they both smiled. Sarah stood back from him as he pushed himself away from the wall and they stood there gazing at each other for a long moment. "I can't even think straight right now, Loki." Sarah said, putting one hand on her hip, the other atop her head as she smoothed her hair from her face. "I've wanted this for far longer than you know. I have been without love, without compassion or reason for countless ages, so long that I believed that part of me," Here Loki touched his chest with a fist, "Had never existed at all. Now I find that I only needed someone to awaken it in me again." Sarah slipped her arms around his waist and leaned her head against his collarbone, he encircling her shoulders in a strong hug. They stayed like that for long minutes until he kissed the top of her head and she drew away from him. "Now I really do have to go," She sighed. He leaned over to her and gave her a light peck on the lips. "Will you try to come and see me tomorrow?" She nodded, "If I can convince the guard to let me in without my badge, I'll try. If not, I'll see you Monday, I promise." As the elevator doors closed behind her, Loki entered his quarters, walked into the bedroom and flopped face down on the bed.

The Allfather had warned him against involving himself with a human woman. He had set in the Great Hall across from Odin the day he had gone home, and told him of Sarah. "Loki," His father had said, "You will outlive this Midgardian woman by many ages. You open your heart to torment once again, to see her grow old and die before you. That is something we, with all our power, cannot change. Are you willing to accept this?" Loki was perfectly willing to accept Sarah, he wasn't willing to accept that she could not live as long as he would. "There must be exceptions to this, father." Odin had opened his mouth to speak but stopped, stroked his beard for a moment. "I cannot offer you any hope beyond this. There is a hunger within you that is plain to see when you speak of this woman. If she has touched your heart, nothing I say will alter your perception." Loki had taken leave of his father, his mind in turmoil and the unrest had followed him that whole day with Sarah. He now wished he had talked to her about it but as she was still unsure about Asgard, he hadn't wanted to upset her. But she had touched his heart, melted the ice around it, captivated him, completed him, and he knew he would go to the ends of the earth for her.

Sarah had been turned away by the guard on duty that Sunday with apologies but Sarah thought it just as well. She'd needed a day away to process what had happened between herself and Loki, even if she couldn't tear her thoughts away from the feel of his lips against her nape or the passionate kisses, the taste of him, the scent, the feel. She shook her head hard as she stood outside the door to the building and was preparing to walk back to her apartment in the summer sunshine when her cell phone rang. It was Director Fury, "Miss Miller, I'd like a word with you in my office, the guard will badge you in." She turned and looked inside the foyer, her palms suddenly sweating, took a deep breath, and went back inside.

Fury gestured to a chair in his office when she walked in and she sat down. "Miss Miller, I didn't expect to see you here on the weekend, getting a little extra work done?" Sarah fidgeted with her cell phone which she had kept in her hand. "You weren't maybe planning on visiting someone, were you?" Sarah looked up into Fury's hard gaze, "Miss Miller, I rarely do this because of the sensitive nature of such material but as you are an agent, I'm going to give something to you to look at. I want you to see it before you decide to continue down the path you're on." He handed Sarah a cd case, written on it was the name "Loki" and underneath "Classified Level 4" Her hands trembled and she gripped the cd case hard. "I'm also transferring you to operations in the lower levels of the Stark tower as of Monday. You will be monitoring communications around the world with regards to suspicious or malicious activity. It is a step up, Miss Miller, understood?" Sarah nodded, not wanting to look up at Fury for fear that he would see the anguish in her eyes. "You may go now, enjoy your weekend, or what's left of it."

She stopped before the entrance to the foyer, considered heading for Loki's quarters to tell him what was happening but realizing she would be seen every step of the way. She stepped back out into the sunshine a moment later but felt much colder than she had minutes before.

She put the cd in her briefcase, far below the sheaf of papers and requisition hard copies stacked therein. She had no desire to see what was on it and briefly thought about snapping it in two, instead stashing it away. She called Lizzie but there was no answer, then she called her parents but there was no answer there either. Finally she decided to call Lily, she'd become a good friend inside of the month she'd spent at the office and she wanted to tell her she was being transferred. "You're kidding, " Lily cried into the phone, "We'll have to Skype now and you won't be at lunch either!" "We could meet up for lunch," Sarah said, "We're only a block away." "I know but it's not the same," Lily said sounding petulant, "I'm sorry, it's Fury's orders. This is going to be harder than it sounds." She thought of Loki and what was going to happen when he didn't find her in the office on Monday and put a hand to her temple. "We'll have to figure something out." After she hung up with Lily, she sat there trying to figure out how to get a message to Loki. Nothing as easy as picking up the phone, all calls to the office were monitored. She would have to see what kind of opportunity Monday would bring.

Loki had been restless Sunday and even more agitated Monday as five p.m. approached with no word from Sarah. He walked into lab 3 to speak with Dr. Banner but only found Stark there, sitting at the table where the scepter sat, staring at it. "Captivating isn't it, the workmanship is unique. Your buddies really knew what they were doing" Stark said as Loki turned to leave the lab. "Loki turned back around, "Where's Banner?" "Had to step out for a bit, what can I help you with?" Loki shook his head, "Nothing," and turned again to leave until Stark spoke up again, "Oh hey, we got a new employee at Stark towers." Loki kept walking towards the door, "Transferred over from S.H.I.E.L.D., yeah, our little requisition girl, Miss Miller." Loki's hand hovered over the door panel, "She's in communications now. Should fit right in nicely, didn't you go on a mission with her just recently?" Loki spun around to face Stark, "I need to speak with her. Take me to your office." Stark held up his hands, "Hey, no can do, it's already past quitting time so she's gone home, and I can't take you anywhere. You need supplies or something? There's a new girl doing requisitions." Loki came over to the table and slammed his hands onto the surface, making Stark stand and back up. "You're playing me, metal man, do you want to get into so dangerous a game?" Stark could see the table start to ice over, Loki's hands turning blue. "This game wouldn't be as dangerous as the one you're playing with Sarah now would it?" Rage overtook him and Loki shoved Stark into the glass wall behind him, the glass spidering outward. "Now what," Tony gasped, "We're going to get into a pissing contest?" "Silence!" Loki roared, "You know nothing about what is between Sarah and myself." Tony shoved Loki backwards, catching him off guard. "You don't want me to call Banner to give you another spanking now do you?" Loki spun around and stepped toward the table. Behind him he could hear Tony in a whisper, "Jarvis, stand by." Loki put his hands by his side, "I've no wish to fight." Tony stepped up to the table beside him. "Good because the suit is about due for its thirty thousand mile checkup and if I bring it in with dents and scratches on it, I gotta pay extra you know? So why don't we just call this a draw alright?" Loki didn't move, "Have you ever lost anything you hold dear?" Tony paused for a moment, "No, uh wait a minute, nope, I've gotten what I want in life, Miss Potts, a stellar career, a brilliant mind, I'm pretty sure I'm set…but then again I didn't try to take over the world either…not that I haven't in a completely different way but let's not split hairs." Loki turned his head to stare at Tony, causing him to jump, "And what if you were to lose all of that? If someone had taken all you had?" Tony put his hands out, palms up. "I'd simply start over again." Loki narrowed his eyes, "Even Miss Potts…could you stand to lose her too," Tony was silent, Loki thought that it might have been for the first time in his life, "It's terrifying to consider isn't it.." The sliding of the lab door interrupted them and Loki turned to see Dr. Banner walking towards them, "Tony, I did the analysis on the metal and I came up with…" He slowed and finally stopped on the other side of the table, looking back and forth between them, "Am I intruding on something? Cause I can leave the same way I came in.." Loki stepped around to the other side of the table with a backwards glance, "No, I've said what I came to say." As they watched him through the glass walls, heading down the corridor, Banner turned to Tony, "I did miss something, didn't I?" Tony gave a quick shake of his head, "Nope, now what have you got to show me?"

Sarah stood in the foyer of the S.H.I.E.L.D. offices, mouth open in disbelief. "I'm sorry Miss Miller, technically you still work for us but this is a high clearance site so you have to get a badge reissued when you've been transferred." Mr. James said, handing her badge back to her. "Is there anything I can help you with? You need to talk to someone in the office?" She nodded, "It's alright, I'll call them." But it was anything but alright. She stepped out into the street where it was starting a light rain and punched Lily's number on her cell phone. "Hello?" She heard Lily answer but by the sounds in the background, she was still on the train. "It's Sarah, are you heading straight home?" Lily answered that she was, "Can I come over and talk to you. It's important." Lily paused, "Uh, sure just give me time to get there. Is everything okay?" Sarah's throat felt thick, "Not really, no. I need your help."

Try as he might, he could not calm himself. He had mulled over going to Fury and begging him to let him see Sarah but knew it would be a futile effort. Questions would be asked that he didn't care to answer. He had spent the better part of that evening in the training room, working with such fury that he'd broken two staffs, his cries echoing off the thick glass walls, until he lay on his back, drenched in sweat, trying to catch his breath and fight the anguish that threatened to cover him like a relentless tide. It was well after midnight when he finally retreated to his quarters and lay across his bed in the pitch blackness, his final thought wondering if Sarah had tried to come to see him as she'd said she would.

Sarah had arrived at Lily's small apartment just after 6 p.m. soaked from the steady light rain that had been falling, hiding her tears as she quick walked down the city streets. Lily handed her a cup of coffee. "You need a new badge? Shouldn't that be easy? Just ask Fury." Sarah shook her head, sniffed, "He would ask why I needed it in the first place, then when I told him, he would say no. That's why I need your help." Lily sat down at the little kitchen table across from Sarah, "Doing what?" "I need you to get a note to Loki." Sarah said already searching in her briefcase for a clean sheet of paper. "Loki? What for?" Sarah hadn't told Lily about their relationship, had in fact told no one and she supposed she would have to now. "Loki and I, um…we've been seeing each other, sort of, in a way. Call it what you will, but now I can't get into the office and I need to tell Loki that I'm trying to find a way." Lily's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates, "You're not serious are you? How come you didn't tell me sooner?" "I was afraid Fury would find out and I'm not so sure he hasn't, I think that's why he transferred me." She pulled the cd out of her briefcase, "He even gave me this to look at." Lily looked at the cd case, "And did you?" Sarah shook her head, "And I'm not going to. If Fury does know what's going on, I think he'd do everything in his power to stop it." Lily put a hand over Sarah's, "Maybe Fury has a good reason, did you ever think about that?" Sarah nodded, "Someone once said to me that sometimes the truth is worse than the lie, and I want to keep the Loki I know now. So can you help me please?" Lily deliberated for a moment telling Sarah to watch the cd, then sighed, "Write your note, I'll see that he gets it. I'm a sucker for love."

Sarah had been right about Fury in the extreme. Fury had played the level 10 surveillance video at least 3 times to get through his head what he was seeing. His first thought had been to terminate Miss Miller's employment but she was still a good agent and the way the world had been going lately, that was a hot commodity. He had decided to transfer her with his advice burned on to the cd, taking deliberate care to include the video surveillance from the hover carrier as well as the destroyed Tesseract facility in the desert and countless feeds from the day in the city that had been confiscated and had never seen the light of day until now. He knew that mere words would make no difference to her, he only hoped he could impress upon her good sense instead.

Loki read the note that Lily had slid over one of the tables in the cafeteria over and over though there were only a few sentences on it in Sarah's handwriting. 'My badge won't work anymore. What do we do? I miss you so much…Sarah.' He had folded it again and again and slipped it in the pocket of his pants before looking up at Lily who was still standing there. "Any reply you want me to give her?" Loki stood up, "Only that I love her, and I will find a way."

He found Thor in the weight training room. It amused Thor to see how many weights he could fit on their small machines even though there was never enough to make any difference and he had to be careful so as not to toss the weights and smash something or someone. Thor set the gargantuan bar he had been lifting on the rack and turned to see Loki walking towards him, "Loki, what is it?" Thor asked, concern in his voice, "Brother I need your help. I need to see Sarah Miller and I can't do it alone, Fury won't let me out of his sight." Thor sighed, "Loki I cannot go against Fury. He has already expressed a desire for you to return to Asgard and I have had to beg him to reconsider. If you continue to try and seek the company of Miss Miller, I fear the consequences could be dire." Loki leaned over, bracing his hands against the weight bench suddenly as exhausted as he'd never been before. "Is it because she's a Midgardian? You, yourself have visited Jane Foster many times over, why would you deny me the same happiness, brother?" Thor walked over and put a hand on Loki's shoulder. "I have freedom to travel about Midgard, your past actions have served as your prison and your sentence may be longer than you wish it." Loki stood and shoved Thor's hand away and growled, "How can I hope to atone for my past transgressions without the chance to do so?" Thor closed his eyes, seeing the face of Jane dance before him. "Brother, I doubt there is little I could do, even if I offered to go with you to see Miss Miller, Fury would deny it, you know that now." Tears of anger welled in Loki's eyes, "Then what is there for it but to defy him?" Thor took Loki by the arm, "No, that would surely earn you a one way trip back to Asgard. Let me try to find a way, my brother, I share your pain though you scarce believe me when I tell you this." Thor put his hands upon Loki's shoulders again, "Promise me you'll do nothing until you hear from me." Loki nodded dejected, a stray tear coursing down his cheek. "I will try, I can only promise you that."

Friday dawned hot and muggy. Sarah looked out at the sky watching the dark clouds roll in as she sat at her desk in Stark towers. Loki's message had come to her like a lifeline but there had been no others and she had barely been able to keep her mind on her work all week. So wrapped up in her thoughts was she that she didn't hear the sound of footsteps approaching her desk until Stark tapped her on the shoulder. "Miss Miller, are you coming to the office party tonight? I wanted to get a head count, one of my little quirks." Stark smiled at her. "Mr. Stark, I'm probably not going to come, I haven't felt much like partying. I've got a few problems to work out at home." Tony put a hand on the arm of her chair, she could smell his expensive cologne mixed with the faint scent of bourbon. "Is it that you don't have anything to wear? Cause I can get Pepper to find you a selection of dresses, it's semi casual anyway," Sarah protested as Tony pulled out his cell phone, "Miss Potts, I'm going to send Miss Miller upstairs, see if you can't find her something nice to wear for tonight.." "Oh I can't possibly, Mr. Stark" Sarah stammered but Tony was offering his hand which she took and he pulled her to her feet, "Now everyone is going to be there, I'm sure you don't want to be hearing about a party you missed every day for the next month, do you?" He walked her to one of the elevators at the front of the room in which she worked. "Miss Potts has great taste," Tony grinned, "She picked me after all." She watched Stark wave as the doors closed and the elevator began to rise.

Half an hour later, she was standing before a three way mirror in a pale yellow strapless empire waist gown with tiny blue flowers along the hem. "I think this really compliments your complexion, Sarah." Pepper said, "This was the one you wanted to try on again wasn't it?" Sarah nodded, the beautiful gowns had actually made her feel a bit better and Pepper was so nice to her, almost sympathetic as if she could see the inner disquiet Sarah was struggling with. "How much is it?" Sarah asked, "It's nothing, Mr. Stark's treat. Trust me, he wouldn't have it any other way." Pepper replied, "Now I'll pack this up and have it sent to your apartment around 6 pm, ok? Party starts at 8." Sarah thanked Pepper and left to return to her desk downstairs, however, when she was back seated at her desk, her thoughts once again turned to Loki. She glanced outside watching the storm clouds build on the horizon thinking that they exactly mimicked her building mood.


	8. Chapter 8

Thor had all but threatened Loki with brute force to make him shower and change into a presentable outfit, had lain the dark suit and dress shirt on his bed and stood there, arms crossed until Loki had stood up from the couch, shoved him aside and turned on the water in the shower. "Mr. Stark said we all had to be there tonight and that is what we will be, including you." Thor shouted to him over the roar of the running water. "Besides, maybe this will serve to get your mind off of her." "I don't _want_ to get my mind off of her and this will only put me in more foul a mood than I was. Stark is absolutely the last person I need to see." Loki stepped out of the shower, wrapping a towel around his waist and walking into the bedroom. "I didn't know you still had that scar.." Thor said as Loki toweled off. "I have many scars, perhaps more than you, after all wasn't I the punching bag quite often?" Thor chuckled quietly, "It was all in good fun, brother, I promise you." Loki was buttoning up his white shirt when he looked at Thor, "If that was good fun, I'd like to see your idea of a bad time.." He paused, "And I have." Thor let out a guffaw, "Well met, brother! Now hurry, time is growing short."

Sarah had stepped out into the street in the dusk of a warm evening and she shrugged the lacy wrap she had found in the closet to accompany her dress, off her shoulders. The storm had passed through that afternoon leaving cloudless skies and a glorious sunset was starting to light up the sky. When she'd answered the door for the delivery man, there had been a box with the dress. In it was a note from Pepper and a pair of pale yellow flats in a size 7, her size. The note said, 'Sarah, I had completely forgotten about the shoes, hope these work for you, see you at the party, PP.' She had shaken her head incredulous. Miss Potts really was a girl Friday, the perfect woman for Tony Stark.

Thor, Loki and Dr. Banner had opted to walk to Stark towers. "Can you imagine having all that money at your disposal all the time?" Banner said, craning his neck to look up at the skyscraper bearing the words "Stark" in bright blue letters, except for the A which was red. Loki glanced upwards, then back at the street before him, another reason for his reticence in attending Stark's party. In his mind's eye, he could replay every move, every word, every battle from that day. He was starting to feel a headache coming on. "The two of you look put together tonight," Banner remarked, "I don't really fit into dress suits, besides there's always the bill if they come back ripped." Here Banner gave something between a snort and a chuckle. Thor turned to him, "I think the dress shirt and pants you chose suit you well, doctor." Loki eyed Thor and added, "Yes much easier to replace than a good suit." They arrived at the top floor to find the townhouse full of people, some they knew from the office but mostly people from Stark towers, friends. Stark was in the midst of it all, naturally but when he saw the three of them step off the elevator he excused himself and walked over to them.

"Fellas, make yourself at home, Loki glad you could be persuaded to come to one of my little soirees after all," Tony flashed him a smile, "Doc, I want to introduce you to one of my most esteemed colleagues, she's from the university of Maine and she has Phd in nuclear physics..first though, Thor follow me, big buddy." Loki watched Thor follow Tony to the far side of the room and let out a bellow, "Jane!" as a petite woman with brown hair rushed up to him, he picking her up in a bear hug. Loki skimmed the room, seeing a few people from the office that he knew but cared not to make small talk, cared not to be there at all. Rather he felt Tony had brought him here tonight as payback for their little shoving match in the lab earlier in the week. He walked to the bar alone, Banner had already been snatched up by Tony. When the bartender handed him the beer he'd asked for, he took a long deep swig, nearly draining the bottle by half. 'Not as good as the mead at home but it'll have to do," Loki thought to himself. Curling the bottle against his chest to avoid having it knocked from his hand, he made his way over to the wall of windows leading to the terrace. In the reflection of the glass, he could see Pepper Potts staring at him flatly and he resisted the urge to turn and stare her down. He knew he didn't belong here, he wasn't sure why no one else had gotten it. He opened the door and stepped out onto the terrace into the starless glow of the city beneath him, a light breeze ruffling his hair. He scanned the buildings, trying to remember which one was Sarah's apartment, finally finding it nearly hidden in the midst of the rising skyline. He took another gulp of the beer and put his hands on the terrace railing, thinking staying outside here all night would be preferable to the crowds of people inside, most of whom he didn't know, some of whom knew him and would doubtless prefer to push him over the railing to the street stories below.

Sarah met up with Lily and they walked to Stark's tower together, Lily had found for the party, a sweet little spaghetti strap sundress, pale orange with red piping along the bottom hem and black heels. "I'd like to find a rich husband tonight."She said as they walked. "I'm sure Stark even keeps a few on hand just for emergencies, he's got to be swimming in rich men." Sarah shoved her playfully, "Honestly, if you can do without a man, do it. I did.." Lily cast a sidelong glance at her, "And look at you now…sour grapes, my friend." Sarah looked downcast at the pavement beneath her feet, "Good call…okay let's change the subject now, shall we?" By the time they had arrived at the Tower, it was already 8:10. As soon as they walked into the foyer and stepped into the large elevator waiting for them, Lily had slipped off her shoes and hooked them over her fingers. "Next time, maybe we should take a cab." She groaned. Sarah drew the wrap from off her shoulders and draped it over her arm as the elevator shot skyward.

When they stepped off the elevator, Tony had waved to them from across the room and Sarah had immediately spied Thor with a pretty, smartly dressed, woman on his arm. She had also noticed Dr. Banner in a corner, a drink in his hand which he never looked up from, talking to a tall, leggy blond in a black dress, her hair pulled back in a chignon. Lily pulled Sarah by the arm to a group of office people from the S.H.I.E.L.D. division where they all greeted her with congratulations on what they considered a promotion to better circumstances. She smiled, made small talk for a few minutes then decided she would seek out Stark and perhaps, grabbing a glass of wine to fortify herself, beg Tony to help her see Loki.

The crowd in the townhouse was cluttered and she skimmed around the edge of the room along the glass wall, stopping for a moment to peer through the tinted glass at the city outside when she spotted a man on the terrace with a silhouette at once familiar to her and her heart began to race. She searched for the door to the terrace, finally found it and stepped outside into the night air. Loki, deep in thought, never heard the door open, nor did he hear the rapid footsteps approach until she was a few feet from him. He turned toward the sound of her step and she stopped. "Sarah?" He said, voice cracking, "Loki, oh god," She cried and rushed forward into his embrace, their kisses as intense as they were bittersweet as they sought to say in caresses what they had been unable to tell each other that whole long week apart. She held his face in her hands finally for a long moment. "I tried to come and see you, I asked Lily to take my note to you." Loki patted his pants pocket, "Still have it," he reached up and pressed her hand to his face, closing his eyes. "I don't know what to do, Loki." Sarah whispered, "How can we be together if everyone else is determined to keep us apart?" Loki looked up at the wall of glass leading inside and could just make out Tony on the other side, glass in his hand, speaking to someone but his head turned towards the glass, Loki knew, watching them as they stood locked into each other's arms. "There might be a way, are you willing to trust me?" Sarah looked up into his blue green eyes. "I love you, Loki, and I trust you" Loki grinned, this was a new one on him, he'd never had anyone trust him so completely and it felt exhilarating. He took her by the hand and they stepped from the night air into the warmth of the townhouse, Loki catching Tony's eye and giving a slight bow, eliciting a quick smile from Tony in return before he returned his attention back to the guest he'd been speaking with. As they wove through the crowd, Loki's mind was already working at a fever pitch, his hand gripping Sarah's almost hard enough to hurt, so fearful was he that she was going to be stripped away from him suddenly. As they reached the middle of the room, Thor's booming voice called out to him, "Brother, come here." Loki scanned the room till he saw Thor waving at them from a far corner. Loki was tempted to ignore him but Sarah had already changed direction and he followed her after a slight tug. "Brother," Loki cried, "It seems we have had our prayers answered this evening." He nodded at Sarah who nodded back, "This," He gestured to the petite woman on his arm, "Is Jane Foster." Loki glanced at her to acknowledge the introduction and was startled to see a grim smile and eyes like hard flint as she stared at him. "I've heard all about you Loki." Jane said, her voice clipped, and Loki squeezed Sarah's hand before letting it go. "And I, you, Miss Foster." As he listened to Thor introduce Sarah, he gazed about the room once more and finally found his opportunity.

"Sarah, I'm going to get a drink, would you like one?" Sarah shook her head, "No I'm fine, I'll be right here." Loki leaned and kissed her lightly on the forehead, not missing the turn of Jane's head as she looked away in disgust. Loki reached the bar in seconds and stood next to an agent, his collar and coat unbuttoned, elbows on the bar as he seemed to scan the room. Beside his glass of scotch lay his security badge, taken off as he'd undone the collar of his shirt. When the bartender came up to Loki, he placed his order for a beer and before the bartender could straighten back up to hand it to him, Loki had disappeared back into the crowd. He could feel the hard plastic of the badge against his fingers when he walked up to Sarah who was still talking to Jane, herself looking for all the world as if she wished to pull Sarah aside for a private conversation. Loki took Sarah's hand again, "Brother, If you'll excuse us, I'd like to be alone with Sarah in the short time we have." A sly grin served to make Thor blush red as he clapped Loki hard on the shoulder, "Behave yourself." Thor gave Sarah a nod as Loki led her away from the large crowd towards the elevator, watching Thor's attention turn back to Jane. As a crowd of people filed onto the elevator, he saw his opportunity, looked at Sarah and said, "Don't ask, just follow me" Sarah stepped onto the elevator with Loki who sought the back of the lift in time to avoid Tony's sweeping gaze across the room. As they descended, Sarah peered at Loki's face but he only met eyes with her. When the elevator doors opened, Loki fully expected to see Stark tower security at the entrance, waiting for him but the path to the front doors was clear and they stepped out into the night air and turned towards the offices of S.H.I.E.L.D. a block distant.

They hadn't gone a hundred yards when Sarah let go of Loki's hand and he slowed to a stop. "Loki what are we doing?" "We're going back to the office." Sarah narrowed her eyes at him, "For what, I can't get in without a badge," Her expression softened and she took hold of his hand again, "Why don't we go back to the party and enjoy ourselves, work on Tony's good graces." He whirled around and took hold of her other hand, "No, don't you understand, this is temporary, that's all, then they put me back in my cage and send you on your way." Loki put a hand to her face, "You said you would trust me," Sarah met his intense gaze, all resolve melting away before the face of the man she loved. Loki could see the change in her expression and he smiled.

They stopped just short of the foyer doors. Inside she could see the security guard sitting at the row of computers, staring in the blue glow. Loki looked at her, "Stay still until I tell you to move, alright?" Sarah gave a quick nod, knowing she was about to enter dangerous territory. The air before the desk shimmered and coalesced into images of herself and Loki. She suppressed a cry of surprise as they started to run down the corridor to the left with the guard in pursuit, Loki opened the door and strode to the access door, Sarah nearly pulled off her feet behind him, he fished in his pocket, pulled out the badge and Sarah heard the beep as the door slid open and they were inside. "You don't have a badge Loki…" Her voice trailed off as he turned to her. "Come on, we have to take the stairs." The access stairs were before the elevator at the far end of the corridor and he started off for them at a sprint, "Wait," Sarah cried. She bent over and hooked the heel of one shoe, then the other, picking them up and trotting up to him, "I can't run in these things." He swung the door open to the stairs and held it for her, that was when the klaxon started to sound and Sarah jumped with a shriek. "Loki?" He grabbed her hand and they started down the stairs.

The security guard had returned to his station to alert his superior at the outer station, that he'd lost sight of two intruders that he'd been chasing when he noticed the main foyer monitor playing in a loop and he watched as Sarah and Loki badged into the building in surprise. He hit the alarm hard with his fist.

Tony had sidled up to Thor and touched his arm. "Where did your brother and his girlfriend get off to?" Thor shrugged, "I know not where he went, Mister Stark," Tony gazed across the room finally catching Banner's eye and mouthing the word 'Loki'. Banner started to scan the room when realization suddenly dawned on their faces all at once, "Oh shit, security breach." Tony whispered and they all started for the elevator at once.

Sarah was winded by the seventh floor but spurred on by the red lights and continuous clanging of the klaxon." Loki, I'm going to pass out," She cried, breathless. Loki turned, "Just another few flights I promise. Hurry." As she stepped off the landing at the eighth floor her ankle turned suddenly, flinging her against the wall, pain shooting up her shin, a scream escaping her. Loki was immediately upon her, "Sarah, are you alright?" She took a few deep breaths as he pulled her upwards but when she tried to step on her foot, pain shot up to her knee and she nearly collapsed save for his hold on her. He swiftly picked her up in his arms and took the two flights in bounds, finally arriving at the door to the tenth floor. He set her down, opened the door and looked down the corridor to lab 3.

Fury had jabbed the buttons on the elevator angrily. He knew where Loki was heading, hadn't even taken a second to consider it. He stepped inside the elevator and it shot downward.

As they reached the doors to the lab, the realization hit her of what Loki's intentions were. He slid the badge across the panel and growled in frustration when it wouldn't budge, threw the badge on the floor and said, "Stand back" Sarah limped back until she was touching the wall and Loki laid his hands on the glass in the lab door. Ice began to form across the glass, colder and colder, she could see her breath in the corridor and closed her eyes. As the glass shattered, she heard the door to the elevator slide open and footsteps running down the hall though she couldn't see who it was yet, she was sure they weren't here to give her a warm welcome. Loki grabbed her by the arm and steered her through the door, lifting her over the broken glass and to the table where the scepter sat in its cradle. "When I grab the scepter, you'll only have a few seconds to touch it before it's too late," Loki said turning to her, "Loki, I'm scared," Loki reached out and grabbed the scepter as guards started to step through the broken door. The room filled with an electric blue vapor and she could hear a hum as he swung the scepter and put it end on the floor. In that moment she looked into his eyes, saw the fear there and her hand encircled the scepter above his. The last thing she saw were the guards aiming through the door at her with rifles, the last thing she heard was the order to fire.


	9. Chapter 9

She felt like she was being turned inside out and pulled through frigid ocean water in the brief seconds it took to cross the threshold of time and space, though it seemed like an eternity. She was in danger of losing consciousness, terror piercing her mind like an arrow as she considered what would happen should she lose her grip on the scepter in her hand, when her feet hit what felt like hard glass, sending a freshet of pain through her ankle again and everything went gray as she stumbled and fell onto her back, hitting her head against something hard and metallic. She lay there, eyes shut, panting for breath, too dizzy even to speak. A voice boomed from high above her, "I saw you coming and I summoned a horse for you. She will need the healer's attention."

Something was being wrapped around her, she could smell cloth and sweat, a faint scent of cologne, Loki's suit jacket. It was folded around her and suddenly she was being lifted by a pair of strong arms, she opened her eyes momentarily and caught a glimpse of metal and a golden eye like that of a lion and she was being lifted higher until she was sitting on something hard, and she slumped sideways, coming to rest against Loki's shoulder. There was a slight rise and the sound of hoofbeats, a strange hum and the sound of striking glass with every forward jolt of the horse's stride. Her head hurt so badly, her stomach clenching, trying to find a way upward, she bit her lip to stop the gorge from rising. She could hear Loki, his breath quick in her ear, his arms taut around her body as he gripped the reins. A great creaking, and the sound of chains being ratcheted and the hoofbeats started to echo. She raised her head and could see high walls on either side of them rising into a starlit sky, a glance over Loki's shoulder as two massive doors slowly closed and a glimpse of the multi colored road seemingly made of crystal that they were riding across, stretching into the distance behind them, she turned her head forward and saw towers, spires rising around her in such designs as she had never seen before. Arches impossibly high, statues the likes of the Colossus of Rhodes in an endless row, bridges, waterfalls that would dwarf the Bridal Veil many times over and in the midst of this vast landscape, what seemed to her like a great shimmering mountain overlooking all. She closed her eyes again, her vision blurring. She felt the horse shudder to a stop and she was being handed down to a pair of waiting arms, the hand she had been gripping Loki's shirt with, slipped away and she tried one last time to see him but the grey returned and this time faded to darkness.

Loki followed the healers until they entered the healing rooms and would not let him enter. He stopped, staring at the doors as they closed, then turned, taking long strides through the halls of the palace, ignoring the stares of Volstagg and Sif as he entered the main throne room to find Odin and Frigga in quiet conversation on the dais. "Mother, Allfather." He stopped at the steps leading to the throne and bowed deeply. Frigga stood, swiftly taking the steps and enfolding Loki in a warm embrace, "My son, we heard of your arrival. It is good to have you back home." Loki gave her a small grin but the tone was grim, "I have brought a Midgardian woman with me. The healers have taken her." Frigga stepped away and held him at arm's length. "Loki, you risked her life bringing her here. Travel between the realms is difficult even for a god. For whatever purpose would you do such a thing?" Loki looked up at Odin who had sat, quiet, listening, then he glanced back at Frigga, a stray tear reaching his cheek before he could wipe it away, he was weary to the bone of the ceaseless struggle, the battle he was forever fighting within and around him and all at once he wished for the sweet peace that death would have given him in the deep recesses of the void had he been able to will it. "It was the only way, mother," He sat heavily on the steps and put his head in his hands, "I could not bear to leave her behind." He heard the ringing thud of Odin's staff and he turned to see him walking down the steps towards him. "My dear, I would have a word alone with Loki if you please." He said as he laid a hand upon Loki's shoulder. Frigga bowed and giving Loki a warm smile, turned and drifted from the throne room.

Odin's steps were a bit slower now, his hair whiter than Loki could remember but his eye remained clear and bright and he seemed to be weighing his words carefully before he spoke. "You did not take my advice, Loki," They were standing at the far end of the throne room, looking out across the landscape to the remains of the Bifrost and the new portal being constructed at its furthest reaches. "Your mother is right, you have risked her life bringing her here." Loki put a hand to his forehead, "It was either take her with me or leave her there where I would never be able to see her and that is something I wasn't willing to accept." Odin studied the drapes on the terrace for a moment, then, "Did you consult with her before you brought her here? Did she willingly place her hand on the scepter?" Loki nodded at this, "What of your brother then, does he know what you have done." "I told Thor nothing, he wouldn't have let me go." Loki growled. "Thor is wise. He knows right from wrong." Loki backed away from Odin, his hands in fists, "He spends his free time on Midgard with Jane Foster, a vituperative, venomous woman and he presumes to pass judgment upon my efforts to remain with Sarah as if he himself was free from sin." Loki felt the old rage rising in him again, "He watches my every move, he is a thorn in my side from the time I awake to the time I lay my head on my pillow…" The metallic thud from Odin's staff cut Loki short, "He is fulfilling his obligations as was asked of him, do not fault him for that, rather the fault must lie with you. You have incurred a great debt, one that cannot easily be repaid. You have done a great wrong to the citizens of Midgard and as such they do not trust you, this is the burden you must carry. Would you ask this woman to shoulder that burden with you?" Loki was silent, "And do you believe she would?" Odin leaned upon his shaft and waited, finally Loki nodded. "She came here with me even though she didn't believe me when I told her about Asgard, she took such a leap of faith the likes of which I've never seen before." Odin stood there quiet for a moment, then put his hand upon Loki's shoulder, "We will give you a feast to welcome you home and to welcome the Midgardian woman to our realm when she be well enough to attend."

Sarah had slept a dreamless sleep, deep, what the healers needed to do their work and they left her to awaken on her own which she did seemingly hours later. She lay in a huge, comfortable bed, a green blanket shot with gold threads and the softest material she'd ever touched covered her body. When she tried to sit up for the first time, the blanket slipped a bit and she realized she was naked beneath. She pulled the blanket further up to her and glanced around the room she was in, torches lit the walls which were lined in white marble that glowed gold in the firelight. A small table beside the bed was lined with cloth and held a silver ewer and cup as well as little dishes filled with items and unguents she could not identify. She wanted to get out of the bed and find Loki but she would have to procure some garments first, she was thinking this when she realized that her ankle was no longer throbbing, in fact, as she twisted it around a bit, she felt no pain at all.

Unnoticed, one of the healers, a tall older woman approached her with something draped across her arm. "I have a gown for you to put on, M'lady," She said as she laid it on the end of the bed and started to pull the covers away which Sarah at once gripped tightly. The healer hesitated, then smiled warmly at her, "There's no need for modesty here, I promise not to let anyone in until you are clothed." Sarah looked at the dress then sighed, and pushed the covers away from her while the healer brought the dress, a sage green shift with long open sleeves that let her arms show to the wrists. She stood up to slip it on and still felt a bit light headed. "Where's Loki?" Sarah ventured to ask as the healer was adjusting the dress for her. The healer shook her head, "He is likely getting dressed for the feast. The Allfather has deigned to hold a feast to celebrate Loki's return and to welcome you to Asgard. You've traveled a great distance to be here." Sarah decided against asking just how far and was about to ask for something for her feet when the great doors across the room swung open and a stately woman with a sparkling bronze colored gown and grey blond curls piled atop her head, pinned in an updo, glided over to Sarah. The woman took Sarah's hands and squeezed them in hers. "Welcome, Sarah, to the kingdom of Asgard." Sarah nodded, bowed as best she could in her gown. "I'm glad to see you're well enough to be up and about." "Thank you," Sarah said in a small voice. "I'm Loki's mother, Queen Frigga." Sarah smiled and curtseyed, "It's wonderful to meet you, your Majesty." Frigga smiled graciously. "This place is beyond words." Frigga slipped an arm around her shoulders, "Indeed it is. I must ask you," She started to walk slowly towards the doors, with Sarah, nodding at the healers as she passed by while they bowed in reply, "How is it you came to know.."

Before she could finish her question, the massive doors to the healing rooms swung open and a handsome white haired older looking man dressed in what looked like plated and leathered armor, and sporting over his right eye, a golden metal eye patch which looked to be securely fastened to his face, strode through the doors. Frigga and the healers in the room dropped to one knee, crossed their right arms over their chests and put a closed fist over their hearts. Upon seeing their reaction, Sarah at once followed suit, though a bit sloppily as she wobbled on one knee. "My dear, the banquet is nearly ready," The man said in a voice almost too soft for the man she suspected he was, but with a weight to it as if he could shake the very foundations of the palace had he wished to do so. The Queen stood, "I shall go to the Great Hall to check on preparations if you wish." The man smiled tenderly, "If you please, I wish to walk with the Midgardian woman, Sarah, for a bit." Sarah glanced up at him and his one eye was fixed upon her, the seriousness there, belying the smile he still held on his face. The queen bowed slightly, gave Sarah a comforting squeeze on her shoulder and walked through the doors behind the man, exchanging a glance between them as they passed. " I am Odin Allfather, King of the Aesir, rise, Sarah Miller and indulge me with your company if you will," The man said nearly causing her to wobble completely onto her backside, then he was walking down the steps towards her, hand outstretched. "Come, my child, you must still be weak from the healing," He took her hand and helped her to her feet, then curling her arm around his and patting her hand comfortingly, they started up the stairs out of the healing rooms and into the main palace.

They walked for a minute in silence, Odin keeping his hand over hers, patting it gently. The hall they were passing through was carved throughout with gold bas reliefs of what seemed to be great battle scenes, strange creatures rearing up, men with swords and spears, horses, at one point, she was sure she could recognize Thor holding a hammer, his mouth wide in an eternal call to arms. The hall led into a larger room with immense marble columns supporting the great cathedral ceiling above them, beyond lie a vast terrace with a heavy marble railing around the edge, a perfect place from which to survey the city and Odin stopped, letting her arm free after a final pat with his hand. Her insides clenched in anticipation, she knew he was going to be asking some hard questions. He stared out across the city for a moment, then, "M'lady, how came you to know my son, Loki? Sarah crossed her arms, feeling vulnerable, "I worked with him.." And here she couldn't believe she was saying it but there it was, "On Earth." Odin peered at her, "Worked with him? Please explain." Sarah shrugged, "He was a guest at the S.H.I.E.L.D. office where I was employed as an agent." The word guest seemed more implausible now that she was saying it. Odin nodded, "Thor told me of this place where he often stays when on Midgard. It is Thor's responsibility to watch over Loki while he is there." Sarah considered holding her tongue, but indignation won out. "Why must Loki be watched over like a criminal? He is nothing of the sort." She pushed the thought of the cd sitting at home in her briefcase a world away but pushed the thought from her head. Odin, seeming to pick up on her thoughts said, "Has he told you of the past transgressions that brought him to such a pass?" Sarah shook her head, "We've talked about Asgard, his brother, things like that." Odin continued to gaze out over the landscape and Sarah, turning, could see a long thin glowing strip, a bridge disappearing into the distance, where she'd first entered the city with Loki on that long, painful horse ride. "It is not my place to tell you of his past. That is something he must choose to do himself." He paused, "Tell me, has Loki said anything about himself?" Sarah cast a curious look at Odin, "Like what?" Odin turned from the view of the city below to fix her with his gaze, "Has he told you, he will outlive you by many years, what you would consider forever, with your limited lifespan. Though he will age, it will be much slower than yourself, you will not grow old together. I have seen the anguish this causes." Sarah was taken aback and Odin continued, "You are not the first Midgardian to visit Asgard, my dear. There have been times such as this down through our ages, painful to witness." Sarah wished, for all the world, that Loki was at her side here and now, she was starting to feel sick and it suddenly hit her, "Outlive me? Aren't gods immortal?" Odin shook his head, "Not the Aesir, we too can die just as yourself though we can withstand many times over what would kill a human in an instant, we can still be killed." Sarah had a moment of weakness but it couldn't be helped, "Kind of negates the whole god thing then doesn't it?" Odin considered her comment, "That it is what it is has been our lot in life." He studied her face, then asked the only question she was able to answer easily since they'd started talking, "Do you love my son?" "I do." Sarah responded. Odin gave a kind smile, "And does he love you?" Though he knew the answer, he felt compelled to ask. "I believe he does." At once, a servant was at their elbow, "Your majesty, the feast is prepared." Odin acknowledged him with a wave to which he bowed and left. "Time for ceremony, then we will welcome you formally, my dear. I have enjoyed our walk"

Here Odin bowed and Sarah responded in kind. Odin turned and there was a tall man dressed in full body armor wearing a massive winged helmet leaving Sarah to wonder at the stealth with which the people moved about the palace. "Please see M'lady Miller to the throne room." With another bow, Odin was walking away, back down the corridor which they'd come before. The guard bowed and directed her forward with a flourish of his hand.

She entered the throne room after the guard, who presented her to a woman of medium stature with dark brown hair pulled back from her face with a leather strip, wearing pair of leather breeches, boots and a provocative vest which pushed her breasts together quite nicely. "Lady Sif, Lady Sarah Miller." The guard said, then turned and left her in the company of this woman with an almost angry glare fixed to her face. Sarah surveyed the throne room itself, looking for any signs of Loki. She looked to the top of the dais whereupon sat the largest throne she had ever seen, in person or in books, it looked like the hilt of a massive sword rising up towards the ceiling and it and the entire dais, stairs and drapes were gilded in gold. The people surrounding her were dressed in robes and shifts much like hers, in a myriad of colors and Sarah wondered to herself whether the colors had meaning to them, whether it meant they were officials, peasants, other gods, members of the court. She considered asking Lady Sif but had experienced no welcoming vibes coming from her, so kept silent. There was a sound of a horn being blown, a deep resounding two note rift that rose upward in octave and all around her knelt to one knee, once again, she followed their lead, watching the dais where Odin was walking towards the throne, Frigga on his arm. He led her to the smaller throne to his right and kissed her hand as she sat down. Then he turned, approached the larger throne and stood before it.

A voice from in front of her spoke, "All hail, Allfather" The crowd about her murmured in repeat and then stood up. The sound of marching started to her left down the long aisle to the dais and she watched as two lines of guards, dressed like the guard who had accompanied her, marched nearly to the steps and turned to face each other, flanking the aisle. Odin's voice boomed out into the room, "We are gathered here today," The remainder of the traditional wedding vows started to play out in Sarah's head and she suppressed a giggle, the action not lost on Sif who turned to glare at her. "To welcome home my son, Loki, who has been gone from us for some time. In his honor, we have prepared a feast and entertainment for the evening." At a nod from Odin, the guards all at once pounded their lances on the floor. Sarah watched the people bow again and from the darkness at the far end of the aisle advancing in large strides, appeared a man dressed in a combination of black leather pants and boots, a heavily tooled, wide shouldered, green and black leather long sleeved jacket with a black undercoat with metal accents, a wide gold necklace draped around his chest, a dark green flowing cape that swirled and swept the floor when he walked and an incredible helmet atop his head, dark gold, gleaming covering all but his face, great horns curved feet high and backwards. As he came closer, and she finally saw the man's eyes, she realized that it was Loki and she drew in a sharp breath. Never had she seen a man with such presence, the change in him when he was in his element was palpable and if she hadn't believed before now that he was truly a god, it was starting to sink in to a mind already filled to capacity.

Loki stopped before the stairs to the throne, dropped to one knee, crossed his right arm over his chest, a fist over his heart. "Allfather," Odin lifted his hand and Loki rose to stand again. He was tall without the helmet on, over six feet, the helmet made him seem like a giant. "I wish to present to you the Midgardian, Sarah Miller." Sarah felt herself blush furiously and she met his eyes over the crowd, he giving her a playful smile and nodding as he held out his arm, hand extended, palm down. At first she felt rooted to the floor, she couldn't make her feet move until she felt a hand at the small of her back, rough and insistent, pushing her forward. She turned to see Sif, eyes narrowed, her head tilted towards Loki. Sarah walked forward as the crowd parted and stood next to Loki. He looked at her, mouthed the words, "On top" and Sarah, recalling a scene from an old King Arthur movie she'd watched, laid her hand atop his. "We welcome you Lady Sarah Miller of Midgard, to the realm of Asgard and we will now honor your visit with a grand feast." Loki bowed and Sarah curtseyed, glad she'd watched the old Robin Hood series on late night tv. The guards struck the floor with their lances once again and Loki turned, Sarah still with her hand atop his and he spurred her on down the aisle with her. The horn once again sounded it's mournful blat and she could hear the people around her start to murmur as the ceremony ended and she turned to see Odin descending the dais with Frigga on his arm as they blended into the crowd who surged around them.

When they were out of view of the court, Loki leaned over and kissed her for a long minute, she could feel him moving as he fought to keep the helmet balanced steady. When he backed away, she was overcome, "Loki, this has to be a dream, I think I'm going to schedule a CAT scan when I get home." Loki put a hand to her nape and rubbed her neck. "I knew you would be amazed." Sarah nodded and he put his hands out, turned, "What do you think?" Sarah had to smile, "Incredible, I've always loved a man in uniform," Loki laughed and caught her up in his arms, kissing her again, this time their lips parted in unison, she tugged at his bottom lip gently with her teeth savoring the groan that escaped him they deepened the kiss, the sensation of his tongue meeting hers, passing it, exploring, probing. She broke the kiss, panting, she looked into his eyes, filled with desire, and laid her head on his shoulder, "If we're late to the feast, we'll be missed for sure." She whispered, finally pushing away from him. "I would think if it were for a good reason, they'd understand." Loki purred, putting his arms around her waist and kissing her neck. The pressure of his body against hers sent shivers through her, beginning to weaken her resolve and she once more pushed him away. He grinned and held his hands up in mock surrender. "Alright, shall we then?" He offered her his hand and they made their way to the Great Hall.

Stark stood in Fury's office along with Thor and Banner. "You know I'd like the world to prove me wrong once in a while, I hate to be right all of the time, it gets real boring." "I know, doesn't it?" Tony agreed with Fury, earning him a fixed glare, "Yes it does, and right now you're the luckier of the two of us aren't you Mr. Stark?" Tony gave Fury a quick smile, "Haven't I always been?" Fury walked from behind his desk and up to the screen on the wall with a remote in hand, he began to flick the video feed of lab 3's surveillance cameras across the screen. Loki in the corridor, his hands turned blue, pressed to the glass doors, the lab doors, glass shattered, Loki carrying Sarah across the threshold, the guards arriving at the scene and one of the scariest feeds of all, in Fury's opinion, Loki standing with the scepter in his hands once again, Agent Miller looking scared senseless as she reached for the scepter. "I prefer to think that Loki forced her into doing what she did, any other explanation would be unacceptable but it still doesn't negate the fact that you, Mr. Stark, failed to keep a lid on them while they were in your townhouse." Tony gave a wry grin, "It was a party, what did you expect? You have been to a few parties in your life haven't you, Fury? They usually involve lots of booze, lots of fun, lots of sex, depending on the type of party. They don't often involve sitting on your guests so they behave. I don't agree with what he did, don't get me wrong there, I'm on the side of right and justice and all that bullshit but, maybe, just maybe you could have given the kids a little leeway. Loki's been sorta well behaved lately compared to, well…he's been a good boy. Doesn't he deserve a cookie once in a while?" Fury turned away from the group, "Ever been in a staring contest, Stark?" "Not with a one-eyed man, no" He replied, eliciting a cough from Banner, "Well I have, and every time I blink, something bad happens. I'm holding you personally responsible for this incident." Tony nodded, "It's okay I can take it, I have broad shoulders, I'll file it with Pepper if you like." Fury sat down in his chair and looked around at the group before him, "Which brings us to the next problem, Doctor, can you set up something that would give us some leeway in getting a response team to the lab if and when they do come back, something that would read the energy signature of that damn pig sticker when they are coming through?" "Banner adjusted his glasses on his nose, "Uh what kind of leeway are we looking at?" He turned to Thor, "About how long do you think it takes for you to travel home with that scepter?" Thor thought for a minute, "It is as powerful as the Bifrost, if not more, I believe the time may be quite short." Banner shrugged, "So what would you say a minute, maybe two?" Thor closed his eyes, then, "Perhaps, time has a way of changing when you travel between worlds though. It is all I have to offer you, I'm sorry." Banner grinned sheepishly, "Well at least it's something to go on." Fury stared at him, "So can you do it?" Banner looked around the room, "Unknown variables, unstable energy source, indeterminate distance? Yeah I can probably rig something up." Banner chuckled but Fury was already standing up again, "Then get on it, I want a progress report every two hours. When Loki does return, and I'm sure he's going to. I want the jump on him, I want him locked down as soon as his feet hit that floor." "What about Miss Miller?" Banner asked, barely above a whisper. "If she survived the trip in the first place, we'll deal with that when it comes."

Loki pulled out the chair at an immense banquet table, to the left of Frigga who smiled as Sarah sat beside her. "My child, you must be so hungry." She said as she reached over and placed a bowl of fruit before her. Sarah doubted she would be able to eat much at all but she nodded politely. Loki pulled out the chair beside her and sat down, he then reached up and took the helmet by the side plate, pulling it until, with a click, the bottom part gave way and he slid it off, he then reached up with both hands and removed the massive horn section, put the pieces back together and set the helmet on the floor, and smoothed his hair back from his face. "What did you think of the great throne room? Have you ever been to a ceremony like that, my child?" Sarah shook her head. "Well they like to make a grand entrance, don't they." "Don't all men?" Sarah replied to which Frigga clapped her hands and laughed melodically. "Sarah is a warrior on her own world, mother." Loki suddenly spoke up, causing Sarah to whirl around and face Loki, shocked. "Yes, she's what is called an agent. She's trained to protect people from criminals.." "That explains why she's here then," Came a reply from across the table. Sarah looked across to find Sif staring at Loki and when she turned to look at Loki, he had returned the stare and was now glaring at her. "That's very interesting," Frigga spoke up, "How do you train for such a position?" Sarah looked at the plate of fruit before her, "We have to go to an academy to train, like a school. We learn hand to hand combat, weapons, negotiation skills, languages, profiling, everything you would need to know to protect someone like the President." Frigga wore a curious expression, "President?" Loki spoke up, "Like the Allfather." Frigga nodded, "You are like our guards here at the palace. They are steady and loyal, ready to die for their king, that is a very noble profession." Sarah smiled and thanked her and was about ready to attempt a piece of what looked like an apple when she saw Sif staring at her across the way, a smirk on her face. Sarah narrowed her eyes and tightened her lips into a thin line, watching Sif's expression darken into a frown. They stayed like that for a minute, two, and finally Sarah could bear it no longer. She stood with her hands on the table and Sif did likewise, pausing before finally giving in with a grin, "You look as though you may have more woman on your hands than you can handle, Loki." It was Frigga's turn to stand then. "Sif, there will be no more of this. You show bad manners towards an honored guest." This served to break the spell and Sif bowed low in Sarah's direction, "Forgive me, I meant _you_ no slight." Sarah waved her hand, "Okay, sure." Sitting down, she noticed that Sif was once again eyeing Loki, and she wondered if there would soon be words between them.

Odin had set at the head of the table watching the exchange quietly. He now sat forward in his chair. "Mother is right," He sent a gracious nod in her direction, "There is to be no discord for the rest of the evening." Odin paused, "From either party," Sarah kept her gaze at her plate, sure she'd been delivered a smack down as well. A steward walked behind her chair and began to fill a chalice beside her plate from a gold carafe. She picked up the chalice and sniffed it, the sweet strong smell of fermented grapes and maybe a touch of honey came to her. She took a tentative sip and the taste exploded over her tongue like fireworks. "They've nothing like this where I come from, unless I'm missing out, probably something from Stark's cellar." She took a deeper swallow, "But this is wonderful." She felt a hand on her thigh, a light massaging touch, and looked towards Loki who wore possibly the most adoring expression she'd ever seen, on his face as he watched her turn the chalice between the palms of her hands. "And if it's a dream, I'd like to sleep in a little longer."

The sopophoric effect of the wine, the hum of hushed conversation and Loki's ministrations upon her leg had served to lull her into a contented state and she sat listening to the people around her, the stories they had been telling of battles, the discord between worlds, the proper way to please a woman. That one had perked her up a bit and she had strained harder to hear what they were saying, was in fact picking up on some good ideas when she felt Loki lean close to her, his hand brushing a stray tendril of hair away from her face and close to her ear in a low voice just above a whisper, "I'm going to take my leave for the evening, will you come with me?" She turned and looked at him, could see the flush in his face and resisted the urge to kiss him, then nodded and watched as he stood up. "Mother, father, we wish to thank you and bid you good evening. I will show Lady Sarah to her rooms." She heard a giant of a man with a red flowing beard and hair whom she'd heard referred to as Volstagg, cough violently, suddenly, avoiding Loki's gaze. Odin and Frigga stood up in kind. " I hope you'll find the accommodations to your liking, my dear." Frigga said to her as Loki reached down and offered her his hand. "Thank you so much, your majesty." She replied with another curtsey and she was following Loki out of the great hall and down the torch lit corridors to her room.

Loki swung open a pair of gilded bronze doors and Sarah peered in. A great carved hardwood frame against the far wall held the bulk of a massive bed which looked like it could hold a whole baseball team at once. Two graceful oil lamps hung, glowing, on the wall on either side of the bed which was draped with a blue silk coverlet and great white pillows leaned against the arched headboard which was carved what she thought was a great curving dragon looking back over it's shoulder, it's front paws reaching out from the edges of the bed to grip two ball finials at the top of the arch. A dressing mirror stood against the wall to her right, stretching to the ceiling high above. She stepped further into the room and was delighted to find a part of the same beautiful terrace that she had stood at to speak with Odin curved around the outer edge of the room, three smaller pillars supported the roof and formed the only barrier to the view out into the cerulean night sky.

She turned to Loki and smiled, "They certainly like big things here, don't they," He smiled in return, "I think it serves to humble us, to remind us that despite the fact that we believe ourselves to be giants among men here, that there are far bigger than us in the universe." She looked at the bed, "Or that it gives you bragging rights." Sarah giggled. The wine had relaxed her, sent all thoughts of S.H.I.E.L.D., Fury, even her job, off to spend an evening alone with themselves. She walked over to the bed and sat down. "Oh isn't this delicious?" She flopped back and stared up at the dark ceiling. When Loki remained silent, she sat back up to see him standing by the door. "Loki? What's wrong," He shook his head, "Nothing, I trust the accommodations are to your liking?" Sarah stroked the covers under her hand. "If you're asking if I love the room, the answer is yes." She could see his jaw clench suddenly, "I will see you in the morning then," He bowed and was nearly to the door when Sarah caught up with him, "Why do you have to leave right now?" She put a hand on his forearm, fingering the soft leather, feeling the sinew of the man beneath it. But Loki seemed almost to balk at the same touch that had made his breath catch in his throat hours ago. "I am afraid, Sarah, for the first time in my life, truly afraid to stay here any longer." Indeed he glanced towards the door as he said it. Sarah withdrew her hand and crossed her forearms, cupping her elbows. She could feel her pulse in her fingertips, so hard was her heart beating. She watched him for a moment then said, "But, I'm harmless," She opened her arms, "See, no gun." She smiled at him and was surprised by his swift movement as he gripped her shoulders, "But I am not, Sarah, I hunger for you. For every part of you, and I fear the consequences of my actions but it does not alter the way I feel about you." He leaned to her and placed a trembling kiss on top of her head, the scent of her hair, her skin beneath the palms of his hands driving him even farther from his resolve. Frustrated and confused, Sarah broke away from him. "Damn you, Loki," She paced back and forth for a moment, "Damn you for bringing me here, Damn you for following me down that damn hallway, for coming to my apartment, for kissing me, for making me love you." Tears were starting to constrict her throat and she uttered one more, "Damn," and sat down heavily on the bed. "I was damned long before that, Sarah."

She looked up at Loki who would not lift his gaze from the floor and she stood and walked over to him, put her hand beneath his chin, feeling the warm wet of his own tears, his eyes meeting hers, breaking her heart in two. She took his hand and he allowed himself to be led over to the bed where she sat him down. She took the heel of one boot and with a short tug, it slid down his leg, she did the same with the other one. He touched a hand to her hair, then reaching behind her, undid the leather strip that the healers had tied there when they'd given her the dress to wear, and she felt her hair release to her shoulders. She straightened up from the floor and putting her palms against his chest, slid them beneath the thick leather lapels of his jacket, pushing it backwards over his shoulders, he bending his elbows to facilitate her as she pulled the sleeves forward and off his arms. She put her hands on her hips for a moment, eliciting a smile from him as he reached forward and undid the gold buckler around his neck with a deft turn of his wrist, revealing a silk cord laced through the front of his tunic. Her hands started to tremble as she untied the bow and released the knot, glancing up at him for approval. He took her face in his hands, the kiss between them filled with an urgency, a passion that took them by surprise, his hand slipping behind her head, threading through her hair, hers responding in kind as she slipped her hand beneath the tunic to grasp his bare shoulder, the kiss causing her head to swim and her knees to relax when she was borne by an arm around her back. She reached down and slid her hands against his stomach and under his tunic, reveling in the light strip of hair she grazed as she brought the edge of the tunic up, he assisting her in continuing her task, kissing her throat as she rose to lift it over his hands. She sat back on her heels and stood up, looking down at him, studying to learn every mark, every scar, each curve, the graceful sweep of his long neck to his strong shoulders and lean muscular arms tapering to slender hands. He stood up with her and began to untie the satin cords tied at her shoulders which held the gown in place and she put her hand on his, trepidation momentarily breaking her.

"I will never hurt you, my heart." He whispered, as he bent down and kissed the bare skin of her shoulder, nipping at her collarbone, his teeth grazing the skin as he turned her and let her down gently on the bed, reaching down to her thighs, taking the hem of the dress and pulling it away from her, over her feet to drop on the floor at the end of the bed. She was suddenly self-conscious, scrambling backwards until she found the edge of the sheets, lifting them to cover herself when she heard him chuckle, "You are beautiful, Sarah, please don't hide it from me." He knelt on his hands and knees and crawled over to the middle of the bed where she lay, half under the sheets, her breath ragged in her throat and stopping as he dipped his head to her, his hand sliding along her rib cage to cup one breast, his lips encircling the tip gently, she could feel the movement of his tongue against her and she let a groan as she stretched and shivered, putting her hands against his head, feeling him smile against her skin as he moved over her to give his attention equally, his hand caressing, skimming over the other he had just left. She arched her back, her breath in short gasps as he worked his way down to kiss the hollow of her belly, then upwards, his lips trailing little kisses everywhere, her ribs, her wrists, her shoulders, her chin until he at last reached her mouth again, tugging at her lip as she had his, breathless together, their kisses peaking in intensity with each turn of their head, Sarah, her hands at his back, pulling him further up to her. He suddenly lifted himself up with one arm and was reaching down for the tie to his breeches when he felt another hand join his as Sarah completed the task, her hands pushing him onto his back, a smile on her lips. She pulled, peeled his breeches down the length of the bed and off to join her dress in silent witness to their lovemaking.

When she turned to him, he made to rise but she put a hand to his chest, amidst the dark hair and pushed him back on the bed. She lifted her leg and swung it over his hips till she was astride him, a shudder of desire wracking her body as he lifted his hips to meet hers, their eyes locking as she slid against him, her hips acquiring a rhythm, the heat of their desire mingling with her own arousal as she dipped her head to his chest, all sanity abandoned as she reached down between them and her hand encircled him. He put his hands to her face as she looked up at him, "I love you, Sarah Miller," and she knew she would never hear sweeter words spoken as long as she lived. She raised herself up deftly and guided him inside her, his shuddering gasp serving to move her as he brought his hips up to meet hers in a slow, aching rhythm until he was leaning forward, turning her over so that she lay on her back and he pushed himself up on his forearms to watch her as she arched into him to meet each powerful thrust, her hands gripping his biceps, face sheened with sweat, lips parted in passion. The world faded for him, colorless, lifeless save for the woman beneath him, he dipped down to kiss her open mouth and she arched harder, trying to close even the merest distance between them. She was lost now, her body trembling with ecstasy, she could feel the buildup within her as his strokes increased in rhythm, his arms about her waist pulling her up to him until he felt her breath catch, felt her convulse around him as she breathed his name into the night air, her passion spurring him, moments later to his own release within her as he threw his head back and cried out her own name to the stars that winked down upon them in silent sentinel. He lay tenderly against her then, their wild heartbeats mingling, their breath slowing as they descended from the peak of their union, sweat drying upon their bodies as the night breeze flowed across the terrace and into the room. "We are now one, Sarah." Loki whispered against her throat, his hand tracing circles upon the skin of her stomach. "We have shared a divine union, one that cannot be broken." Sarah gazed down at him, her eyes shining, "No one ever will, Loki, I promise." He lifted himself on one elbow and smiled at her, that smile that, now, she was sure she would die without, and they met again and again that night in love, each moment as sweet as the next until they collapsed, sated, exhausted into a dreamless sleep, Sarah enfolded in his arms.


	10. Chapter 10

Morning dawned bright and clear, the sun catching Loki across the face and he put his arm across his eyes to shield them, reaching with his other hand for Sarah and sitting up swiftly when he could not feel her in the vast expanse of the bed. He peered around the room and as his eyes adjusted, he could make out her silhouette on the terrace. He crawled to the end of the bed, grabbed his breeches and slid them on, then made his way to the terrace where Sarah stood, wrapped in the silk coverlet from the bed, staring out at the sun glinting off the Bifrost bridge.

When he was finally beside her, she said, in a low toneless voice, "Is the sun here the same as ours at home?" Loki nodded, kissed her exposed shoulder. "Why shouldn't it be? Sarah turned to him, "It shines on Midgard, Asgard, Valhalla." She cocked her head, "What's Valhalla?" Loki squinted up at the sun and raised his hand, "For us it's equal to your Midagardian heaven, a vast hall where warriors go when they die in battle. It's the goal of every Aesir." He put his arms around her waist, resting his head on her shoulder, relishing the intimacy they had created. "Loki," Sarah said, "How old are you?" Loki let go of Sarah's waist and turned her to him. "What a curious question." Sarah met his gaze straight on, "It shouldn't be hard to answer." Loki looked out over the city, "I am 34 of your Midgardian years." Sarah nodded, chewed her lip. "And in Asgard.." "Don't do this Sarah,"

Loki walked back into the room, she following him to the bed where he sat, head in hands. "Your father spoke to me before the feast. He gave me a lot of advice which I didn't follow," She looked wryly at the bed, suppressing a shiver at the memory of their coupling. "Now I would like you to tell me," "Sarah, it would be incomprehensible to you," Loki glanced up at Sarah standing before him and desire began to cloud his mind again. He reached up for the blanket around her and pulled her towards him, after a bit of resistance, she sat on his lap, her head on his shoulder. "We will be together, you promised me, didn't you?" Sarah nodded assent against his neck. "But I'll grow old and die." A small sniff and he felt her bury her face deeper against his skin, "Perhaps we could find a way to make you one of the Aesir." Loki said, turning to look at her. She shook her head, "I didn't say I wanted to live forever, I wanted us to grow old together." She put her head up and gave a sad chuckle, "Mind you, together is a tentative word when we return to Earth."

She stood up and shed the blanket, reaching down and grabbing her dress from the floor. Loki grabbed his tunic and pulled it over his head. "Why couldn't we stay here.." He began, but Sarah stopped him, "Loki, I have a job on Earth," She shook her head, just saying it made her want to laugh, "An apartment, my family, a life.." She tied the gown at her shoulders. "I wouldn't ask you to give that all up if it were you." Loki pulled on his boots and stood up from the bed and she was struck, recalling how majestic he had looked striding up the aisle to kneel before Odin. "We have to go back and repair whatever damage we've done." Sarah said, as she started for the doors when Loki grabbed her by the hand and turned her to him, "What about the union between us? Last evening…" Sarah reached up and kissed him, his eyes closing, mouth seeking more, but she gently pushed him away, "That's why we have to try and fix what we've done."

After they had taken their leave of Odin and Frigga, and the long ride out over the Bifrost, they stood before an immense man, bearded with eyes like bright amber and Sarah remembered her arrival here, the eyes she'd seen were his. "Heimdall, how long do you think it will take to rebuild the bridge?" Loki asked as they approached him. "How long did it take to build it?" Came the booming answer and Loki looked at his feet. Heimdall had produced the scepter from beside him and he now held it in his hands, ready to hand it to Loki.

Dr. Banner was sitting at the table in the cafeteria, drinking the last of his green tea when his beeper went off and he nearly dropped the cup onto the table. He fumbled in his pocket for the small square and finally pulled it out, read the number, and jumped up so quick that the teacup jumped off the table and smashed to the floor. "Hey," He yelled to one of the cafeteria attendants, "I'll come back and pay for that, ok?" He started on a run towards the elevator, dialing Stark's direct line. When Tony finally answered, Banner could hardly get the words out, "We've got a spike. I'm heading to the lab."

Fury chose to take the stairs, leaping them in twos and threes..there wasn't any time to lose, Banner had said there was no guarantee his calculations would be correct with all the variables he'd had to work out. He reached the tenth level just as Banner slid the door to the lab, four agents already in the room waiting with him. When Fury walked into the lab, Banner looked up from the screen he was staring at. "There's definitely some activity here. I called Stark and he said he'd be on his way…as long as I don't have to suit up, I'm good." Fury looked about the room hands on his hips, and waited..

Heimdall reached out the scepter to Loki, Sarah taking a last long look at the city of Asgard sparkling before her in the morning sunlight. As Loki's hand touched the scepter, the electric blue flames began to dance around him and she grabbed the handle a little more forcefully than before as the scene before her shimmered and once again, she fought to maintain a hold on the scepter as her breath was ripped from her, the freezing cold numbing her fingers, arms, for what seemed like interminable minutes but in reality was only seconds when she felt her feet on solid ground and she stumbled but didn't fall this time as Loki caught her, his face flushed, dripping with sweat. They looked around to find themselves in the corridor outside lab 3 looking in at a room full of trouble.

"Where the hell are they?" Fury shouted as the agents remained in defense stance. Banner peered at the computer, looked at the data on his tablet, and back at the computer screen again. "They should have been here, it looks like they're already through…" When his eyes caught movement in the corridor and he stared through the glass at Sarah and Loki. It was seconds before he could manage words, "Um, outside?" When Fury turned to look, they had already started to run for the stairs.

Sarah couldn't match Loki's long strides and had started to fall behind until Loki grabbed her hand. At the third floor, they could hear footsteps above them quick and many. Loki opened the door to the third floor and they started down the corridor until they found a door sporting a neon EXIT sign above it, Loki shoved it open and pulled Sarah through and they were outside in an alley filled with dumpsters. "I think this was the janitor's entrance," Sarah gasped, her heart trying to catch up with her legs, "Loki, I don't think we should be running away," she could hear footsteps in the corridor behind the door, soon they would figure out where they'd gone. Loki spun around and Sarah saw something she hadn't seen in his eyes before, pure rage. He grabbed her hand once again and she almost pulled away from him until he turned back to her and the rage had been replaced with desperation. They headed down the alleyway, turning the corner into the street seconds before she heard the door in the alleyway slam open again, shouts of "This way," reaching her ears. She pulled Loki down a one way street towards her apartment building, her feet almost slipping from under her in the sandals she'd worn upon her return as people stared at them when they passed by.

Tony watched them as he hovered in the air stories above them, Fury's voice loud inside his helmet. "Apprehend them unharmed if possible. I seriously doubt she's following his lead. We may have a hostage situation on our hands." Tony sighed, they had slowed to a nervous quick walk. "Gonna be a shame to bother them. They make a nice couple." Tony murmured as he bent himself earthward and hit his burners.

Loki heard the roar before Sarah did and he pushed Sarah to the side as Tony hit him hard. He could hear Sarah scream his name, the fear in her voice wiping out all else as he reached for Tony's helmet and began to pull outward, sparks flying from the sides as the metal gave way and Tony slammed him against the wall of a nearby bank. The breath knocked from him momentarily, he let go of the helmet, the blue glow of the arc reactor inches from his face. He reared back and punched the blue circle fast and hard and Tony stumbled backwards with a metallic clinking sound. "Hey now that's not playing fair horn boy," Tony put his hand up to face Loki, "Yeah I made that one up, so there, it's a work in progress I know, Now would you like to stand down or do I blow a hole through you big enough for people to get to the ATM?"

Sarah had fallen when Loki had pushed her and now far down the street, she could see Loki against a wall, blood dripping from the side of his mouth, Iron Man standing at battle ready before him and she started to run.

He heard his name and looked over Tony's shoulder to see Sarah running towards him, and Tony chose that same moment to look back at her. Loki reached out for him and lifted him over his head, threw him hard to the ground. Striding over to him, Loki put a knee to his chest and started again to pull his helmet off, lifting his chin at a painful angle, a grimace upon his face. Tony began to reach up with his hands, intending to either knock him down or rid the world of him completely when he saw Sarah, from his peripheral vision, running up to Loki.

Loki didn't expect the tackle and it knocked him off Tony's chest. Sarah forced him forward, flat to the pavement, placing a knee to his back, leaning forward over him. "Cease and desist immediately," She said loud and close to his ear, he heard the clang and whir as Tony stepped up to him. He reached down and picked Loki up, holding his arm as sirens screamed in the distance, Loki, however, was paying no attention to anyone save Sarah who stood before him, tears streaming angrily down her face, "What were you doing?" He growled, "I was saving your life." She shouted at him. The cop cars stopped a few feet away along with a couple of very familiar black cars behind them. Fury made his way through the crowd that had gathered, and turned face to face with Loki. "Your brother is on his way here to escort you back to the office, no offense Mr. Stark," "None taken," Came the metallic answer, "You have a lot of explaining to do, we are bringing up charges of kidnapping," Sarah backed up to the bank wall and slid down it, her hands to her face, "Unauthorized use of a classified object, assault, theft. I'm thinking your welcome is about worn out." Loki said nothing, but kept glaring at Sarah, ignoring even the loud thundering footsteps of Thor as he walked up to him and grabbed him from Tony's grasp. "Brother, what were you thinking? We've tried to be lenient with you and this is the way you repay us?" Loki's gaze snapped to Thor, "We? You don't belong here any more than I do, dear brother!" He shoved Thor's hand away and started for Sarah, Tony raised his hand but Fury held his fire.

She could hear the footsteps coming towards her and she looked up in time to see Loki kneel to one knee in the rubble beside her, his face grim, a snarl forming upon his lips, "Now do you see? Is this what you wanted?" She looked down the street, unable to face him but he grabbed her chin and turned her back to him, "Is it?" He shouted at her, then in a lower voice "You said we were damned that evening and you were right," His voice cracked then and a cry of pure anguish brought him to both knees. He felt the weight of Thor's hand on his shoulder, "It is time to go, brother." Loki stood without another word and walked towards one of the waiting black cars, past Tony and Fury and got in beside Thor.

She'd started to cry so hard it hurt to breath, she wanted to reverse the clock, stop herself from ever seeing Loki, ever taking the reassignment from D.C. but she was powerless to do anything of the sort and she felt sick at heart that she wouldn't be there with him in the cell they would be bringing him to tonight. She felt a shadow over her and Fury was standing above her, offering his hand. She took it and stood up, unsteady on her feet. "Good job Agent Miller. I'd like you to come to S.H.I. E.L.D. tomorrow morning for a complete debriefing. Right now, you should go home and get some rest, I'm going to send an agent to stand watch outside your apartment to see we don't have any more trouble." Sarah wasn't sure there would be any more trouble with her ever again but she nodded and watched as Fury walked away.

A half hour later, she was standing in the shower in her apartment. She'd come home, taken off the dress and laid it down on the bed, nearly overcome again as she thought of Loki. When she had dried off and put on her robe, she sat on the couch and opened her briefcase for papers to fill out, hoping she could occupy her mind until tomorrow when the cd slipped from the pouch in the lid and dropped onto the floor. She picked it up and stared at it for a moment, then she walked over to her laptop on the kitchen island and sat down, hesitating a minute but finally drawing on her resolve, she shoved the cd into the drive on the side and waited. The file opened up immediately and she half considered shutting it down, was in the process when Loki's face came up on the screen in the form of a mug shot with files below it marked with names like Joint Dark Energy, ships video feed, Stark tower feeds. Stuttgart. She clicked on the first folder and when it opened she clicked the first video which started to run. Loki was poised on a podium with the scepter in his hand, leaping from it like a deer and she stared open mouthed as he pounced on several agents, flying about the room like a man possessed, using the scepter like a weapon. She opened one file after another, watching with mounting horror as he ran through an agent in one of the ships video feeds, facing off against Captain and Tony in Germany, to the Stark tower feeds where it finally hit her. He'd been responsible for the chaos in New York, he'd opened that hole in the sky. She shut the laptop, her stomach clenching as bile rose in her throat and she ran to the bathroom and knelt before the toilet, bringing up little but continuing to retch for long minutes afterwards. When she could finally stop heaving, she walked out into the kitchen, popped the cd drive on the side, took out the cd and hit it against the island counter, shattering it. She lay in her bed, staring out at the lights of the city through her window until the sunlight crept in the next morning.

She was in Fury's office for the better part of two hours answering his questions about Loki's behavior, what had happened in Asgard. She had told him nothing about the night spent with Loki but wondered when he probed further, if he had any idea about it. He had congratulated her on a job well done though she felt there was something more Fury wanted to say. He was about to dismiss her from his office when she stood up and asked him, "Sir, I'd like to have a few words alone with Loki, if I could." Fury shook his head, "I wouldn't recommend it, Miss Miller." "But you didn't say no altogether, I need to talk to him, to ask him a couple questions of my own." Fury put his hands behind his back. "I'll give you ten minutes tops, but that's it. He's not been in a mood for talking today." Sarah nodded and was about to leave when an agent appeared at the door. "Take her to see Loki, cell 3, Incarceration level 4. She has ten minutes with him."

Loki was sitting on the floor of his cell, his eyes closed, hands on his knees, looking for all the world like he was meditating when Sarah approached the door to the cell and the agent slid his badge across the panel. The door slid aside and as Loki opened his eyes, she felt her heart breaking all over again as it had been doing continuously, ever since she touched her feet to Earth again. He looked up at her, saying nothing. She sat down on a bench to his left. "I watched the cd Fury gave me." She said simply, "Now I know why he wanted me to see it." Loki turned his head towards her and she continued, "I think I didn't want to see the truth, no I know I didn't. I wanted to believe you, and trust you, but I've seen what you were capable of." Loki put the heels of his palms to his eyes, "It doesn't matter anymore, does it? I can never atone for my past, I could only try to build a better future with you, now it doesn't matter." Sarah stood up to go, the pain of seeing him too great to bear, when he said softly, "Sarah, they're sending me back to Asgard," She turned to him, "To stay." She found her knees giving way and she knelt on the floor next to him, their eyes locking as she leaned to him and kissed him, his hands finding her face, holding it as they shared their grief, she put her forehead against his. "It doesn't matter, Loki" She whispered, swallowed hard, "I love the man I came to know, nothing will change that." She heard the door slide open to her left and the agent, "Miss Miller?" She stood up and Loki did so with her. The last glimpse she saw of him, his eyes were closed, his arms limp at his sides in defeat.


	11. Chapter 11

She had been given a week's leave to recover from what Fury called her ordeal. She had nearly gone mad with grief, sinking into a profound depression, not answering her phone or calling anyone in return until one afternoon, she heard a knock on the door of her apartment. She was lying on the couch wrapped in a blanket, the TV on mute. She waited for a minute to see if whoever it was, would go away. Finally another knock and a called "Hello?" it was Lizzie. She stood up from the couch, wanting Lizzie to go away and yet needing to talk to someone, anyone. She unlocked the door and opened it, Lizzie stood there with Daniel beside her. "Where the hell have you been, I've been calling all week."

She walked into the apartment and looked around. "This place is a mess, are you okay?" Sarah had given Daniel a hug and was now back on the couch, blanket wrapped around her. "I had a little vacation time coming and I took it." Lizzie sat down beside her, Daniel had grabbed her tablet and was now fiddling with it at the kitchen island, the sight threatening to break her down again. Lizzie saw her expression and put her arm around Sarah's shoulders. "Hey now, you gotta tell me what's going on or I can't help." Sarah shook her head, "I can't tell you much Lizzie, it has to do with work." Lizzie sat back, "You didn't get fired right?" Sarah shook her head again, "No, I don't know how I didn't but I'm still gainfully employed," She chuckled, wiping her eyes. "Well then that's a good thing, so what did you do wrong?" Sarah glanced at Lizzie, "A lot but I really can't tell you because it falls under classified and I don't want to burn my last bridge." Lizzie shrugged, "Alright,, so it's not man trouble then." She watched Sarah out of the corner of her eye and caught her reaction, "So it's a man then." She turned to Sarah, "Anyone you want me to beat the crap out of? Is it that guy you brought with you to the softball game?" Sarah could only nod, she couldn't bear to say his name. "Loki, right?" Lizzie asked. Sarah bit her lip hard. "Yeah," she said, her voice wavering, she paused to compose herself, "He got called home." It was all she could manage. "Northern Europe or something?" Sarah laughed, then threw her hands in the air, "Yeah, that's it," Lizzie stood up from the couch and walked out to the kitchen to glance over Daniel's shoulder. "So if you're so broken up about it then why didn't you go with him?" Sarah ran her hand through her hair, "He went home to stay." An image crossed her mind of Loki standing at the terrace of the room they'd shared, hands planted on the marble rail, face a mask of frustration and she half wondered if it was real or imagined. "Well you could visit him couldn't you?" Sarah shook her head hard.

Lizzie came back to the living room and stood before the couch. "So you guys had a falling out then?" Sarah was suddenly exhausted, "Lizzie, listen, I can't talk about this right now. It's too much for me." Lizzie turned and walked back to the kitchen where she started running the water in the sink, "Fine, you don't wanna talk about it, we won't, you go get yourself a shower and get dressed while I get these dishes done." Sarah stared blankly for a minute out into the kitchen, then rose from the couch and headed into the bathroom to run the water for a shower.

Monday morning found Sarah at her desk in Stark Towers, staring woodenly at the computer screen before her. Her head ached, she felt irritable and she'd been unable to sleep the night before. She'd barely made a dent in the paperwork she'd needed to catch up on, her mind seemed unable to focus, when she heard a familiar voice call her name and she looked up. Thor was walking towards her desk. She looked down at the video feed disc that she'd just burned for placement in a file, trying to act busy, trying to avoid the inevitable. "M'lady Sarah," Thor was at her side, bending over, he took her hand and held it. "I would like to speak with you in private, if you have the time." Sarah looked up at him, "I'm rather buried with work as you can see." Thor eyed the desk, then turned to her, "It is about my brother."

They sat outside the front entrance on one of the benches placed around a large fountain. The sun had warmed the day to another scorcher and Sarah felt worse than she had before. "Loki has gone home to Asgard." Sarah swallowed hard, gave an imperceptible nod, "He told me he was going." "My brother has asked me to watch over you. There are other things he told me that I would not deign to speak of in public, but I must know if they are true." Sarah watched a mother and her toddler as the boy splashed his hands in the basin at the bottom of the fountain. "If you're asking whether I slept with him, the answer is yes." Thor stared at her, "I did not mean to ask if you slept with him, I meant…" There Thor stopped and she realized he had taken her literally, "Thor, slept with around here means I had sex with him." Thor reddened and nodded, "He told me he had let the hunger overtake him. How well I understand, he does not know." Sarah raised her eyebrows, "You and Jane?" He blushed even harder, "Loki thinks I am innocent, and ignorant but he is wrong. And he is concerned for you. I believe he truly loves you, Sarah." Sarah rubbed the bridge of her nose, her headache was worsening, "And he's a world away." Thor put his hand on her shoulder. "I will work on Fury, perhaps I can get him to agree to let Loki visit from time to time." Sarah shook her head, "And then have to let him go again and again? I don't think I could survive it." Thor squeezed her shoulder and dropped his hand. "Things have a way of working out, perhaps not as you expect them to, still you must give this time." Sarah looked around her at the buildings, the hot sun, Stark towers high above them, "That's about all we have is time, Thor."

Lily was sitting with her while they ate lunch from a street vendor's cart a couple weeks later when Sarah realized something wasn't right. The smell from the hot dog cart was turning her stomach violently, so much that she had to walk away. Lily fell in step beside her as they headed back to their offices, "Maybe it's that damn street food." Lily suggested. Sarah was inclined to agree with Lily but she could tell there was something more. That afternoon she had to leave her desk at least once to bring up her lunch. She stood in front of the bathroom mirror, cold water dripping off her face and the urge to laugh suddenly hit her, she toweled off her face and walked out of the bathroom to log herself off the network and get ready to go home.

She stood in the drugstore near her apartment, half an hour later, staring at the shelf before her, fending off the laughter again as she thought about the utter insanity of what she was considering. She reached out before her and grabbing a box from the shelf, walked to the counter, paid for it and left quickly, not wanting to meet anyone's gaze and nearly ran up the four flights to her apartment where she locked the door behind her. Ten minutes later, she was sitting on the floor of her bathroom holding a small white stick in her hand which she hadn't been able to put down for the last nine, trying to make sense of what she was seeing, she'd grabbed the box it had come in and read the proper use label a dozen times just to be sure but nothing would change the little white stick and no matter how she looked at it, she was pregnant.

Loki stood before Heimdall and the nearly reconstructed portal. "Show me Sarah Miller of Midgard." He said. Heimdall turned and entered the dome, Loki following behind him, "The vision will be clouded at best, the portal is not yet ready." Heimdall warned him as he waved his sword across the arch at the far end of the dome. The air shimmered and wavered finally solidifying into a vision of Sarah as she sat at her desk in Stark towers, her fingers feverishly working the keyboard of the computer, reaching for her water, taking a drink of it, stretching the kinks out of her back. Loki watched for long minutes then turned away and headed for the opposite arch out onto the bridge. "It is not easy to look upon that which you cannot have, why do you do so?" Heimdall's voice called out to him. Loki ignored the question as he lifted himself up on his horse and turned its head towards the city.

Fury studied the agent's report once more then put it down on his desk. He had been right to have Sarah Miller keep her job. It was one way to keep an eye on her especially now that this new development had occurred as he'd expected it would. After Thor, out of concern for his brother, had told him what Loki had said, he even considered re-instating her at the office but decided to watch and wait. He had informed Stark of the new development, getting a quick retort in reply, "Mazel tov, I think you should start planning a baby shower for her." Thor, however had been another problem altogether. Fury had warned Tony to keep his mouth shut until it couldn't be helped, his concern being that if Thor found out, he would surely go home and tell Loki and the last thing he wanted on his hands was a desperate god. He'd ridden that merry-go-round before, thank you. He put the file in his desk drawer and leaned back in the chair waiting for the world to stop spinning.

"You're what?" She heard Lizzie shout over the phone, "Oh you're kidding, right? Whose is it?" Sarah, a look of contempt crossing her face, said, "Seriously? Who do you think?" There was a pause, "Not that Loki guy you brought with you to the softball game. Thor's brother?" Sarah sighed heavily, "Yeah, that Loki guy, gee thanks." "Well," Lizzie retorted, "I've only met him once. How far along do you think you are?" Sarah thought to herself, "Maybe a month. I didn't realize I'd missed my period." In fact, as she thought about it more, she should have gotten it the week she returned from Asgard. Suddenly she felt miserable, "And I can't even see him, he's…back home." "So he doesn't know?" Lizzie asked.

Sarah laid her head on her arms as she sat at the kitchen island, "Nope, and I'm afraid to tell him too." She could almost hear the gears in her sister's head working, "Is he prone to violence, like he wouldn't beat you up if he found out right?" Sarah rolled her eyes, "Well no of course not…he just might try to come back here and it's sort of…well expensive on his part." Like a long jail sentence, she mused. "Well what about an abortion? He wouldn't have to know." Sarah put her head up, horrified, "Eliza Ann Hayes, how could you even suggest that?" She heard Lizzie sigh this time, "I'm just trying to throw solutions out there for you. I mean it sounds like the two of you aren't even together now." Sarah walked to the apartment window and looked to the sky, "It doesn't mean we don't want to be, we just can't right now." "I'll bet if you called him and told him that you were pregnant, he'd be there in a heartbeat." Lizzie replied. Sarah walked away from the window and sat on the couch, "That's what I'm thinking too. I'm going to wait, call the doctor and make an appointment to confirm the test. Do not, repeat, do not say anything to mom and dad until I am sure." Lizzie promised that she would wait and they hung up with Sarah's assurance that she would call her as soon as she knew what was going on.

That Wednesday morning at work, she dialed the number of her gynecologist, hung up, then steeling her resolve, she dialed again. When the voice on the other end answered, she said, "Hello, this is Sarah Miller, I'm a patient there and I'd like to make an appointment." She looked around the office hoping no one was really listening hard to her. "Yes, I took a home pregnancy test and it came out positive." She listened to the date options and picked one for next week, the receptionist telling her to get her blood drawn that afternoon if she could manage to get to the office by five-thirty that afternoon so they would have the results for her appointment. She said she would try, if not this afternoon, then tomorrow morning, thanked her then hung up and put her head down on her desk, only looking up when Jenna, one of the office workers she'd struck up a friendship with, walked over to her computer station. "Everything alright?" She asked, standing there with her hands on her hips. Sarah nodded and managed to smile. "Sure, couldn't be better, just tired." Jenna pursed her lips, seemingly unconvinced but then, "Okay, you want to go to lunch together today?" Sarah nodded again and after a little discussion on where the lunch was to take place, Sarah was again alone with her work, scanning video feeds, watching the world go by from the comfort of her air conditioned cubicle. She shivered, pulled a wrap she'd brought with her, around her shoulders and tried to concentrate on the screens before her.

She stood outside the gynecologist's office after her appointment that following Thursday, trying to hold her hands steady as she called Lizzie. "They confirmed it, I'm pregnant. Made my third month appointment and everything." She heard her sister groan, "Well now you're going to have to call mom and tell her." Sarah shook her head, "No, not yet, not until I'm further along than this." When Lizzie protested, Sarah was firm, "It's bad luck anyway, it's too early. Give me time to get used to it myself." Sarah hung up with her sister and started for the subway, and home to her apartment where only Mr. Whiskers waited patiently for his supper.

Sarah lay back, her legs dangling over the edge of the examination table, her heels against the cold hard metal stirrups. She watched as Dr. Hart squirted gel on her gloved fingers. "Now this is going to be just a little uncomfortable, "She said as Sarah felt her fingers slip up inside her, one hand above her pelvis. After a minute of manipulating, she withdrew her fingers, "You can sit up," She peeled the gloves off her fingers and sat down on the stool at the shelf beside her entering something into her laptop. "Everything feels fine, looks good right now, three months and a bit, right on schedule. We're going to schedule an ultrasound next week for you. I'll put that right in your file. How do you feel? Sarah pulled her dress over her head. "I feel okay, a little tired but I'm not throwing up anymore so that's a plus." The doctor nodded, "Okay, keep taking that folic acid, we'll see you in another month."

She was at her desk at Stark towers recording a video feed that had been flagged, watching the time on her computer. Her ultrasound was at 2:20 and she'd asked to be out at 1:00 so as not to be late. As the video feed finished, she was aware of someone standing above her, looking over her shoulder. It was Pepper Potts. Sarah smiled, "How can I help you, Miss Potts?" Pepper smiled in return, "Mr. Stark asked me to bring you to your doctor's appointment today, I have a car waiting, it's much better than the subway." Sarah was taken aback for a minute, then stood up, her computer screen blinking off. "Well I don't want to impose," Pepper waved her hand, "Happy to do it." Sarah grabbed her water bottle, she'd been trying to down it since 1:00 that afternoon to be ready for the ultrasound, followed Pepper out of the foyer doors to a waiting limo and slid in beside her, the driver holding the door for them. "Mr. Stark is a gracious man," Sarah said, a comment that made Pepper struggle not to laugh, "At times, yes." Pepper couldn't mention the real reason she'd been asked to bring Sarah to her ultrasound, to make sure that the baby she was carrying was, for all intents and purposes, a baby after all. Pepper smiled again at Sarah, "Are you wishing for a boy or a girl?" Sarah stared out the window at the passing buildings, "I don't know, I guess as long as it's healthy. A boy maybe."

She had set on the floor of her living room that weekend, looking at a book of baby names, her eyes scanning the origins for Scandinavian names but few had stood out to her except the boy's name Fenris which meant fierce, she could call him Fen for short, and she had written the name down in a little journal book as a potential pick, she was keeping the journal to write each and every milestone as her pregnancy progressed.

They rode in silence for a minute, then, feeling braver, Sarah said, "What about you, do you have any children?" Color rose to Pepper's cheeks, "Oh no, no. I'm so busy at this point in my life, I would never have time.." Sarah nodded, "I suppose, but have you ever thought about it? Mr. Stark seems like he'd be a great dad." Pepper stared out the window of the limo, considering chiding her for being so familiar but decided that she felt like answering the question. "I've thought about it, then I've watched the crazy life Tony and I lead. The potential dangers we face, the hectic pace we keep up, and Tony is always on the go, no, it wouldn't be fair to the child to bring it up in an environment like this." Pepper had been a bit rattled by the question, though, in fact, it had been a subject matter the previous evening between her and Tony when he asked Pepper to bring Sarah to her appointment so that he could give Fury a report and the conversation had ended with words exactly like she'd said to Sarah. "Besides," she added, "You have met Tony haven't you? He's a great man, a philanthropist, a genius, a hero with a generous nature, and he's also an arrogant egomaniac with sharing issues. We don't need more than one of them running around do we?" Sarah couldn't stop her smile, she glanced up at Pepper to see she had joined her.

Sarah drained the last of her water bottle as she walked into the ultrasound room and tossed it in the garbage can before she sat on the table. The technician, a young brunette with a nametag which read 'Sally Cornell' walked in a minute later. "Hi, my name is Sally, I'm going to be doing your ultrasound. Did you drink water like we said to?" "Yes indeed, and I think if you push on my stomach, I'm going to go off like a fountain." Sarah replied. The technician laughed, "I'll try to be gentle, I'm going to have you lie down on the table now and raise your shirt up over your belly, right just like that, and pull your pants down just a bit so I can reach underneath with the wand, perfect."

The technician turned the lights down and squirted gel on a short wand with a wide end. "Okay it's going to be a little cold, ready?" Sarah nodded and flinched as she touched her stomach just above her pelvic bone and started to slide the wand around, stopping every couple seconds to take measurements, after a moment she asked, "So are we finding out the sex of the baby or is it going to be a surprise?" Sarah hesitated, but then said, "I'd like to find out if we can." The technician slid the wand and stopped it, "Well let's see if we can get the baby to reveal itself." She slid the wand again, stopped. "So are you going to tell dad? Or are you going to keep it a secret to yourself?" Sarah looked at the ceiling, "The father isn't in the picture." The technician was immediately apologetic, "I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have said that." Sarah shrugged, "You didn't know, that's alright." Suddenly the technician stopped again and said, "You wanted to know? Well I think we have a potential football player on our hands here. Wait…yup a real good possibility, I'm taking pictures here so you can show him off." A couple minutes more and she was sitting up readjusting her shirt. "I'll finish processing these pictures while you go get some relief." The tech said.

Sarah didn't think anything could feel so good as when she finally stood up from the toilet with an empty bladder and as she walked out of the bathroom, the technician was handing her two black and white ultrasound photos. "Everything looks healthy, he's a little bigger than what your due date reads, maybe by two weeks but that's not a problem. This will probably be the only ultrasound you'll have unless the doctor thinks something is wrong, so good luck, enjoy your pregnancy." The technician sat back down to finish the computer program and Sarah stepped out into the bright light of the hallway.

Pepper was leafing through a magazine when Sarah returned to the waiting room. "All ready?" "All done," Sarah replied and they walked out of the office to the limo parked at the curb. When they were seated back in the limo, Pepper turned to Sarah, "So did you find out what it was going to be?" Sarah took the pictures out of her small denim purse and handed them to Pepper. "She said she's pretty sure it's a boy!" Sarah squealed and Pepper joined her, giving her a happy hug, "Oh that's so wonderful." Pepper said, and stopped. She'd been about to ask the same question the technician had fumbled with but Sarah seemed already to have thought of it herself and she sat back in the seat, "Oh great here I go again," She wiped her eyes furiously, "Damnit, I knew I was going to be a blubbering idiot today. I'm going to chalk it up to hormones." 'Not the potential that Loki will never know he has a son' Sarah thought to herself. Pepper patted her on the back, trying to reassure her, suddenly more angry at Loki than she'd thought possible. "You'll get through this, you have friends and family to support you." Sarah gave a shuddering sigh, "I know, but it still hurts."

The elevator doors to the townhouse slid open and Pepper looked around the room for Tony, finding him finally, outside working on the deconstructor. She ambled slowly down the walkway until she stood over him as he sat with a sonic screwdriver in his hand and some gears in front of him. "When this thing pulls the helmet off my face, it feels a bit fast, like I'm going to be missing my nose one day. Had to tweak it, so what's it going to be? Animal, vegetable, mineral?" Pepper rolled her eyes, "Don't be so crass, as far as they know, it's going to be a baby boy." Tony stood up, gears and screwdriver in hand, and headed into the townhouse, "Baby boy what though? There's the question isn't it." Pepper followed him into the room, "You laugh but I feel for her, she's all alone with a baby on the way, personally I think Loki hypnotized her or coerced her or something." Tony turned to glance at her then back at the gears he'd laid on the table, "Love is blind, sweetheart, sometimes it's deaf and dumb too. Maybe he was an okay guy when he was around her…kinda like me with you." Pepper gave him a punch in the arm and he turned and kissed her quickly. "Well, now it's a waiting game."

Sarah called her sister that evening and told her the news. "A boy! Good, now I can start shopping. Did you call mom yet? You have to call mom now. You promised you would." Sarah lay on the couch and closed her eyes, one hand protectively over her stomach. "I can't bring myself to do it, Liz. I mean I'm sitting here without a husband, pregnant, in a big city. They'd come up, hogtie me and throw me in the trunk to make me come home." She heard Liz cluck her tongue, "Well maybe that's what you need to do, maybe you should take a leave of absence, you're in your fourth month already. What if mom and dad decide to take a little trip and surprise you, what if they show up on your doorstep?" Sarah laughed wryly, "They've been here once since I moved here to NewYork and that took a week for them to plan. I'm not too worried, besides I have to make money to pay the rent and survive." "Well I still think you should tell them. I'm giving you another week then I'm taking matters into my own hands." Sarah sighed, "Alright okay, I'll call, just maybe not today, I want to be in a deep blue funk, not an outright depression." She told her sister she loved her, hung up and lay there thinking that maybe a leave of absence wouldn't be a bad idea, maybe not now but as her time approached. She got up to fix a light supper, her appetite had been poor as of late, and decided she'd make the call to home tomorrow.

Dr. Banner was sitting in the cafeteria with his tablet trying to finish some lab work before he packed it in for the evening. Thor had joined him but was curiously morose, and a bit quiet for himself, nursing a half gallon jug of orange juice. "My brother has changed greatly since he went home." He finally said aloud, startling Banner who had been deep in calculations. He looked up at Thor, "Say again?" Thor took a large swig of the orange juice, "Loki, he has changed." Banner nodded, "Oh good, for the better right?" knowing the answer, he waited for a response. "No, nothing of the sort, mother says he trains like a warrior most every day. He has become bitter, angry, I fear, like he was in the darker times. It troubles her greatly. She tried to hide it from father but, well, father knows...and watches." Banner glanced at the tablet and touched the screen a couple times. "I don't suppose you've tried talking to him?" Thor put his hands to his forehead, elbows on the table. "Countless times, but to no avail. He refuses to listen to reason, he always did though, that should be no surprise. Still I am greatly worried." "Hey guys," They both looked up to see Tony standing there in front of them.

"I had to come over here to congratulate you, Thor." He poked a finger at Thor's massive chest. "The word is out, you're going to be an uncle!" Banner eyes went wide and he stared at Tony, trying to get his attention, shaking his head. Thor glanced up at Tony, "An uncle? How say you?" Banner cleared his throat and Tony shot him a look, "Better get that checked doc, it could develop into pneumonia, yeah, an uncle, congratulations." He took Thor's hand and pumped it. "Mr. Stark, you're not making any sense." Tony rolled his eyes and sat down beside Thor, "How many times have I told you, Tony, please, we're all friends here."

Banner set the tablet gingerly down on the table and removed his glasses, seeing where this was going to go. He figured he might as well watch. "Yeah, don't tell me you didn't know about Sarah?" Thor turned to Tony, "What about her?" Tony sat back in the chair and put his hands behind his head. "Just the fact that she's pregnant," Thor stood up abruptly, his hands balled into fists, "They're pretty sure it's going to be a boy." Banner grinned and gave a nod in Tony's direction. Thor looked about to explode, his face reddening. "I have talked to her many times over and she has said nothing about this to me. How long until the child is born?" Tony looked thoughtful for a moment, "Um maybe five months? Give or take of course, I don't know if you gods take longer to bake in the oven or not…do you?" He received no answer, however, because Thor had started for the doors of the cafeteria and was well out of earshot. Banner tapped the table with his glasses, "I think Fury said something about not telling Thor." Tony put a hand to his mouth in mock embarrassment, "He did? Oops." Banner shook his head, "You thrive on chaos don't you." Tony stood back up, "Well it makes for good business and they always say confession is good for the soul."

Thor could see Loki standing in the arena from where he stood, high up in the surrounding benches, He was dressed in his sparring armor, sword in his right hand, hair stringy with sweat, stuck to his face, breathing heavily, and he was grimy with the dirt of the arena floor. Beneath him, hands raised in surrender, were one of the trainers. After a moment, Loki gave the trainer his hand and helped him up. Thor started down the stone steps, calling to him as he walked towards the arch at the far end of the arena.

Loki turned and spied his brother coming towards him but kept walking until he'd reached the bath house where Thor caught up with him. Loki unlaced the leather armor that crisscrossed his chest and back, leaving his sides exposed, where a thin line of red trailed down his right side. He reached into the basin before him, cupping water in his left hand and rubbing it on his right side, taking in a sharp breath as the cold water stung at the cut.

"Brother, I must speak with you urgently." Thor said. Loki bent down at the basin and cupped more water in his hands, rubbing his face, his arms and shoulders, brushing the excess to the floor. A servant boy waited at his side, handing him a towel which he dried himself off with and returned to the boy's outstretched arm. Then he turned to Thor, "Speak." Thor shook his head, "Not here, this is a matter not to be discussed in public." Loki started to walk away from Thor who called to him, trotting to match his stride, "Brother, this concerns you." Loki glanced at Thor but kept walking, he reached the steps to the benches surrounding the arena and started to scale them. "It's about Sarah." Loki slowed, stopped and looked down at Thor who was rising to meet him. Thor stopped and put his hand on Loki's shoulder, "Sarah is with child, brother."

Loki turned and kept walking up the steps, his movements mechanical, "She has found another then. Why would you tell me this?" He shouted back to him, he was nearly at the top of the arena, "Or do you delight in tormenting me?" "Loki, wait." Thor cried as he reached him once again and blocked his path out of the arena, "The child is yours." He could see a change in Loki's face, and it traveled down his body, his breath growing ragged, a grimace, eyes flashing, teeth bared. He grabbed Thor by his shirt, "You lie!" He began to back Thor out of the arena and into the outer courtyard where he shoved him backwards. "You LIE!" Loki looked around him, eyes darting like those of a caged animal, rage building within him like a hurricane, and all at once, he began to run, Thor following him, yelling for him to stop.

Loki spurred the horse to greater speed, feeling the heaving of its sides as he raced down the Bifrost towards the portal. He had stopped asking Heimdall to let him look upon Sarah as the days had turned to weeks, then to months and the despair within him became hard and fast and complete and he had turned into himself once again, locking away that which even he now thought must have been a dream. Now the wounds which he had tried in vain to heal were opening afresh as he alit hard before the reconstructed portal and ran into the dome, steps before Thor.

"Heimdall," Loki shouted at the gatekeeper poised on the podium in the middle of the dome, "Show me Sarah Miller!" Heimdall looked to Thor who nodded, "So be it." Heimdall boomed as he waved his sword at the arch. Loki strode to the image, Thor at his heels. He could see Sarah, standing in her kitchen with a bottle of water in her hand. He watched as she took a swig of water, stared hard at her, looked at the curve of her belly as she put her hand down, rubbed it, smiling. Loki turned to Heimdall, all sense gone from him as he leaped up the steps to the top of the podium, "Open the portal, OPEN THE PORTAL!" Thor was upon Loki, grabbing him, struggling from the podium, both of them falling to the floor, Loki scrambling to his feet, determined to open the portal on his own if that was what it would take to turn the Bifrost towards Earth. Thor grabbed his foot and pulled him backwards, sliding down the steps as Heimdall watched them in silence. "Let me go, Thor!" Loki growled as Thor stood up, pulling Loki with him. "No brother, you cannot do this, you cannot go back without permission from Fury," "Goddamn Fury to hell! Tell Heimdall to open the portal!" Loki was shouting. Thor shook Loki hard. "No brother, let me return to Earth and talk to Fury. I will try to reason with him. You would put Sarah in grave danger by disobeying Fury because they would come for you." Loki looked at the image in the portal, his eyes shining with angry tears, then he looked back at Thor and pushed his hands away. "You must do something quickly, brother. The balance of the scale has now been tipped." Thor watched him as he stalked off and mounted his horse, heading back to the palace, then looked at Heimdall who was staring at him. "Go with all haste to speak with the humans."

Fury had just stepped out of his office on his way to Lab 3 when he was met halfway down the corridor to the elevator by Thor. "Director, I must speak with you." He said, his manner getting Fury's attention but Fury kept walking, "No time right now, we might have a situation in Lab 3 and I'm on my way there." Thor kept following him, "We can talk on the way there." Thor stepped into the elevator with Fury and it started to move, "I have been informed by Tony Stark that Sarah Miller is with child." Fury turned and stared at him, "Say what? I'm going to have to get me a dictionary and point out the words confidential and classified to Mr. Stark." Thor moved closer to him, "Is it true?" Fury sighed, there was no use in lying to him, "Yes it is."

The elevator doors opened and they stepped into the corridor on the tenth level and as they started for the lab, Thor said, "I have told my brother about Sarah." Fury stopped in mid-stride and whirled around, "You mean you went back home and told your megalomaniac, psychotic brother that he's gonna be a daddy? Please tell me it can't get worse." Thor's face darkened, "Despite what he may be, he is still a prince of the realm and my brother." Fury held up a finger, "Adopted, you did say that." "It makes no difference whether by blood or bond." Thor growled, "Loki wishes to come back here to Midgard to speak with Sarah.." Fury started off down the hall again, "Hell no, we sent him back for a reason, the same reason we don't want him to come back, out of the question." Thor trotted behind him.

"My brother is beside himself, desperate, and the Bifrost is now repaired." Fury stopped again, just short of the lab, "So you're saying he could come back anytime, anywhere if he was allowed to on that end?" Thor nodded, "We shall try to keep watch on him but you know what he's capable of." Fury was silent,

"When the baby is born, Sarah and the baby must also travel to Asgard so that the baby may be recognized by the Allfather and marked." Thor said, Fury shaking his head at the same time, but Thor continued, "The child will be special, it will have a foot in both realms but if it cannot be marked and recognized, it will never be able to call the Bifrost on its own." Fury was still shaking his head, "So when mommy doesn't give the kid its way, it's going to run home crying to daddy?" Thor slammed his hand into his fist, "You must consider this, the future of a member of the Aesir is at stake." Fury closed his eye and was about to say something when Banner stepped out into the hall and saw them standing there. "Mr. Fury, I was just coming to see if you were on your way, come on."

Stark was standing at one of the screens and turned when Fury and Thor walked in with Banner. Tony smiled at Fury, "Glad you could come to our party, I think the disco ball is ready to be hung up." At his words, the scepter sent out flashes of blue flame. "What the hell is wrong with it?" Banner pushed his glasses up on his nose, "Well with the scepter giving off increasing amounts of gamma radiation, the nearest thing we've come up with is that since it hasn't been used in a while, that the radiation is building up and it has to be bled off like a valve, you get it? That's the reason why Thor can hold it after it's been used once, the energy has to build back up to use it again. Until we figure out how to draw off the energy, we have to do something with it." Fury nodded and Banner continued "Either that or it's going to create its own portal but I'd like to think otherwise." "So what do you suggest?" Fury asked him. Banner looked at Tony then at the scepter, "Well I would find a stronger container for it, and get it to a more secure level than this one." Fury nodded again then said, "Can you come up with something, doc?" Banner glanced back at the scepter and jumped as it emitted another flare of blue flame, "I'm sure going to try." Fury looked at Banner hard, "Get on it and keep me informed." Fury turned to Stark, "I'd like a word with you in the hall, now."

Thor stood with his arms crossed leaning against the wall of the corridor. "What were you thinking really, Stark?" Tony smiled and held out his hands in surrender, "I was just thinking that maybe Thor would want to know what was going on, you never said don't tell Loki's big brother and Thor said Loki wanted him to take care of her. You can't really do that unless you know what's going on and now he can help her when she needs it, you know, like lugging a new crib up the apartment stairs or taking her to Lamaze classes, stuff like that." Fury put his hands behind his back, "Well Thor went home and told his brother he had a little bundle of joy on the way, tell me Thor how did he take it?" Thor looked down at his feet, "Not very well, I'm afraid, in fact, he very nearly tried to open the Bifrost himself." Fury stared at Tony, "And now he wants to come back to see Sarah, for what I don't know." Thor shook his head, "He wants to see her, that's all. Wouldn't you want to see the woman you loved?" Tony pointed at Thor, "See? That's what I said." Fury put his hand to his forehead, "We all know that's not going to happen." Tony nodded, "We know it, but does he? I don't think he's one to take no for an answer." Fury turned and headed back towards the elevator, "Then I guess he's going to have to try harder."

Loki had dismounted from the horse and walked into the throne room, a servant following him, begging him to put on a tunic which he finally grabbed and pulled on as he approached the steps to the dais. Odin was sitting on the throne speaking with Frigga when they heard Loki approach and turned to him. The look on his mother's face as she saw him, was one of worry. "Loki, what's wrong?" "Father," Loki said, his voice tinged with fury, "You must let me go to Midgard. I have had news which I must act upon."

Odin stood and walked down the steps to Loki, put his hand on his shoulder. "What news has put you in such a state, my son?" Loki looked up to his mother, then to Odin, "Thor has told me that Sarah Miller is carrying my child. I must see her." Odin turned and glanced at Frigga, "Thor has said that you are forbidden to return and as such, we must do what they ask until such time as they decide otherwise." Loki pulled from his father's hand. "They are humans, we are gods! Why must we do what they say? I must see Sarah!" Loki had stepped further back and was now shouting. The palace guards had stepped into the throne room at the ready. "She must bring the child to Asgard when it is born." Loki was reminded of the scene he'd witnessed, of Sarah in her kitchen, her belly starting to round out, her hand placed protectively over their baby and all strength drained from his knees as he knelt down and bent forward, elbows on the cold floor, his head down. "I must see her,"

Sarah was sitting on the couch watching an old rerun of "Three's Company" and folding some laundry she'd brought home from the Laundromat when she felt the first flutter of life, soft and fleeting but unmistakable. She held her hand against her stomach and once more wished Loki was there to share the milestone. The thought brought tears to her eyes which she wiped away with the sleeve of her shirt. Thor had come to her apartment nearly a month ago and told her of his visit to Asgard, of how Loki had been ready to open the portal by himself to come and see her. She had begged Thor to tell Loki that she loved him but Thor had said that to do so would only spur him to try harder to see her, he said that they must be patient and she had started to cry, saying that she was sick of being patient, had even considered going back to Asgard with Thor until he had suggested that it might not be safe for the child.

Now she was five months along and summer had faded to indian summer, the October sunlight peering into the windows at the offices of Stark towers. Sarah met Lily for lunch the day after she'd felt the baby move. "Just like a little butterfly, thought at first it was indigestion or something, then it hit me what it was." Lily looked at the bump of her belly, "Better you than me, dear, I mean I like babies and all, just other peoples babies. Them I can give back." Sarah laughed, "Good I'll keep you in mind when I need a babysitter." Lily shook her head, "Now you're pushing it, hey Halloween party time, are you going to the office party?" "No," Sarah answered, "I've sworn off parties. I'm going to stay at home and act like a tired old mom. Hand out candy to the apartment kids" Lily shrugged, "Suit yourself." Sarah didn't feel like a party at all, in fact as her pregnancy progressed, all she wished to do was stay home and ready the little bedroom for the baby.

She had asked the landlord if he had any two bedroom units available and he had said yes though it was another two hundred dollars a month and another flight up. She had taken it and Thor had helped her move two weeks ago, along with the help of the moving men Tony Stark had sent along.

Thor had been a great help to her in the last few months, even Jane had come along a number of times to see her as she'd now moved to the east coast, and they'd developed a friendship though she tried hard to avoid the subject of Loki when Jane was there. Jane had even gone baby shopping with her, helping her pick out a border for the baby's room, the night sky and stars theme not entirely lost on her, which Sarah had been putting up this past week. She had read about the nesting instinct women experienced when they were pregnant but she hadn't expected to feel it this strong.

She stopped by the drugstore that evening to buy a couple bags of candy for that evening, sorry that she'd waited till the last minute but there it was. She felt the baby kick while she was waiting in line and rubbed her belly, "I know, Fen, it's been a long day, almost over." She had grabbed a cat's ears headband and a black makeup pencil on the way to the register figuring she might as well have fun if she was staying home, watching Halloween shows and handing out treats for the tricksters.

At the apartment she kicked off her shoes and putting the bags on the kitchen island. She grabbed the wooden fruit bowl at the end of the counter, took out the lone apple and banana, reached into the grocery bag for the candy and emptied the bags into the fruit bowl/candy bowl then went to change into more comfortable clothes.

Thor had told Jane of his plan a couple of weeks earlier when they'd woke up one morning and at first she had totally denied him. "You're insane Thor, what if you're caught?" Thor had smiled that devastating smile at her, "But if you help me, we can do it." Jane had shaken her head vigorously at first and Thor had nibbled playfully at her ear until she'd laughed and pushed him away, "Don't try to soften me up, big boy." Then she had sighed and said, "Tell me again what we're going to do?" Thor had hugged her and started to tell her again what he had planned.

Thor had found Loki in his quarters that morning, still asleep, the covers of his bed looking like he'd tossed and turned for hours. He had set down on the bed and was now trying to wake him up. "Brother, awaken, I must talk to you, please."

Loki had heard him open the doors to his chambers but had remained still, hoping that Thor would give up and leave him alone, but to no avail as Thor reached over and shook him hard, "Loki, please we must talk." Loki, lying on his stomach, turned his head towards Thor and opened one eye, "About what?" At this, Thor leaned over and in a conspiratorial whisper, said, "About your chance to see Sarah." Loki put his elbows under his and raised his head off the pillow, "Say that again?" Thor smiled, "I finally have your attention." Loki turned over and sat up, "Of course you do, you great stone headed wonder, whatever do you mean, see Sarah?" Thor sat back, "It could only be for a short time but at least it would be time." Loki was now on the edge of the bed sitting beside Thor. "Well go on." Thor began.

"There is a pagan custom on Earth called Halloween, or all Hallow's eve. It's supposed to be the one night of the year when the spirits of fallen ancestors can roam the Earth." Loki stared at Thor for a minute, then, "But we're not spirits." Thor smiled held up his hand, "No but the people of Midgard celebrate this holiday on that one night by wearing costumes that hide their true identity and go begging for candy from door to door."

Loki sat there, blinked, slowly a smile spread on his face, "I think I'm following you brother." Thor clapped him hard on the back, "I have employed the help of Jane to get us where we have to be." Loki's face darkened, "Can you trust her? She hates me." Thor shook his head, "She may hate you brother but she has become fast friends with Sarah as we have been spending time with her, helping her to prepare for the baby."

Loki felt a stab of intense jealousy but he pushed it to the side. "So what, we go to Midgard and?" Thor stood up and pulled his brother up from the bed, "I have purchased costumes for us from a market with Jane's help. If there are agents watching her apartment, I am counting on us blending in with the crowd." Loki put a hand to his mouth, "Tell me Thor, do all people participate in this custom?" Thor cocked his head a bit, "Most people, it is considered a holiday for children," Loki opened his mouth to speak but Thor held up a hand again, "But the adults also dress up and go to parties. They enjoy it just as much as the children, so it would seem. We would look like a couple of revelers looking for a good time." Loki thought for a minute, "Well the plan has its holes, a couple gaping ones in fact, but I'm up for it." "Holes?" Thor asked, "What holes?" Loki had grabbed a black tunic from a set of shelves and was pulling it on, "Well there's the fact that you stand out, glaringly," Thus the costume." Thor added, Loki continued, "Then there's Heimdall, that's a big one," Thor answered, "You are in my care, just as it has been for a time now. He cannot deny me." Loki nodded, setting down on the bed to pull on his boots, "Then there's the big one. What if we do get caught?" Thor sat back down next to Loki. "That's why our time there will have to be short." Loki glanced at Thor, "How short?" Thor shrugged, "An hour, maybe two at best. I don't want to rouse suspicion if they are truly watching the apartment." Loki stood up and Thor followed, "So who's the god of mischief now, brother?" Loki laughed then, and all of a sudden, they were like kids again as they both ran from the room.

Sarah had turned on Garfield's Halloween and was watching it in between knocks on the door. She had left her service revolver in the drawer of the stand beside the door just in case but except for a few big trick or treaters, it had been quiet. "I can't wait until you can trick or treat, sweetie." She said, looking down at the swell of her belly. "We'll go to grammy's in Rutland and go around their neighborhood and Aunt Lizzie can come too." A knock on the door interrupted her. When she opened it, Lizzie and Daniel were standing there, Daniel dressed as Iron Man and holding a dayglo green candy bag with the words, Safety First, printed on it in black letters. "Trick or treat, Auntie Sarah!" He cried racing into the room. Sarah laughed and hugged Lizzie who stepped back and said, "Girl you are filling out there now." Sarah nodded and patted her belly, "He's going to be a big boy, like his daddy, and quite possibly a world soccer player, he kicks like crazy."

Lizzie sat on the couch while Daniel rooted in the candy bowl, "How are you feeling?" Sarah unwrapped a small candy bar and popped it in her mouth, "Alright, but I think my circulation is being affected a bit, I'm always cold, I was cold in August during the heat wave, I kid you not. This winter is going to be rough." Lizzie crossed herself and looked up, "Don't jinx us, geez. Talked to mom today, she wants you to come up to see her, pretty please with sugar on top. She wants to go garage saleing with you to find stuff for the baby, there's a town wide sale somewhere next weekend, and there's not much more time left to the nice weather." Sarah sighed, "I'll call her, I'll probably go up, why don't you go with me?" Lizzie nodded, "I will have to check my schedule but it's a good possibility." She looked at Daniel, "And now we have more trick or treats to gather don't we." Daniel jumped up with a loud "Whoosh." Sarah stood up with her sister, "You ought to go to Stark towers, they're handing out stuff and they'd get a kick out of that costume." Lizzie looked at Daniel, "How does that sound?" Daniel was already at the door. "That's my cue, love you, call me." Lizzie said as they walked out the door. Sarah smiled, it had made her night to see them and she sat down to watch "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown." And wait till the next knock on the door.

Heimdall eyed Thor and Loki as they walked into the gold domed room. "Heimdall, we must travel to Midgard, to a place called Fire Island on the island they call Long." Loki glanced at Thor, a smirk on his face. "To what purpose do you disobey the orders of the humans?" Heimdall watched Loki for a moment. Thor frowned, "Loki has been entrusted to my care and I am bringing him with me in that capacity." Loki couldn't meet Heimdall's gaze. "So be it." Heimdall said and walked up to the sword sheath. Loki had to smile then, Thor had lied, he was beginning to think that he was rubbing off a bit on him. They walked to the front of the portal and felt the familiar tug as they left Asgard for the realm below.

Jane was sitting in her green Jeep in the deserted parking lot at Fire Island, watching the sun start to set, enjoying the view of the lighthouse in the distance. She peeked at her watch every couple minutes, thinking that they were cutting it a bit close when a bright light appeared in the sky and was on the ground in an instant. She started the Jeep and drove towards it.

They were soon racing down I-495, Loki in the back, looking at a costume with a black robe and a hood with a contorted white face on it. "It's from a movie here called "Scream. I figured the less of you anyone sees, the better." Loki leaned forward between them and gazed at Thor who had put a red bandana around his neck. "And you are going to be?" Thor raised the bandana to cover his mouth and nose, "I am going to be what Jane calls a bandit of the Old West here on Earth." He held up a black cowboy hat." Jane looked in the rearview mirror at Loki, "I suggest you put your costume on now, we're going to go through a toll booth in a couple minutes and they have cameras at every one. You too, babe." She looked at Thor and they shared a smile, Jane wondering as she pulled a small eye mask over her own eyes, just how hard it would really be to identify them if someone was trying hard enough.

Jane pulled into a parking spot two blocks south of the apartment building and turned to them. "I'm going to wait here. If you guys get into a bind, call my cell phone and I'll be there as soon as I can." Loki stepped out of the car and Thor followed suit. Jane looked out at Loki, "That costume really says it all with you doesn't it." She remarked, the figure before her said nothing, instead raised his right hand and gave her the finger causing her to giggle and Thor to grab his brother by the arm as they headed down the street toward Sarah's apartment. Jane sat there watching them go and hunkered down in the jeep, "This is insane." She mumbled as she looked around her.

The agent sitting in the car outside Sarah's apartment watched them enter the building and mumbled to himself, "I know they get older every year but that's a little overboard.", and returned to the book he was reading.

Sarah had muted "Beetlejuice" on the TV when the last child came for trick or treat and she was heading to turn it back up when another knock came at the door. She grabbed the wooden bowl and circuited back around the couch to the door. Opening it, she stared at a man dressed as a cowboy and another beside him with a scream costume on. She hesitantly held out the bowl. "A little old for trick or treat aren't we?" She mumbled, thinking how fast she could get to the gun if they started something, she glanced at the stand then back to them, when Thor pulled his bandana down and smiled at her. "Thor? Oh you scared the life out of me, come in."

She closed the door behind them, started to say, "Who's your friend with you and why are you here.." but the words stopped there as she turned to face Loki. The wooden bowl dropped from her fingers, clattering to the floor as she put both hands to her mouth, her heart pounding madly. "Oh my god, oh my god!" She gasped as she reached out to put a trembling hand to his face. He smiled and put his hand against hers, holding it there. "You're real, I'm not dreaming." He leaned to her and kissed her, long and slow, "I'm real, and I'm here thanks to Thor." Sarah looked at Thor then turned back to Loki and put her shaking arms around his neck as he slid his around her waist, feeling the swell of her stomach between them. They stayed locked in a tight embrace for long minutes until he gently pushed her back from him and knelt down before her to touch the swell of her belly, splaying his fingers over the roundness, leaning forward and kissing her stomach softly. She put her hand on his head, smoothing his hair as he rested his forehead against her, whispering something she couldn't quite hear.

She glanced over at Thor who had looked away politely. She put a hand against one of Loki's and pulled him up to stand before her. "Thor, sit down please, it's alright." Thor looked at her and gave a small smile as she guided Loki to the couch to sit down. "Okay I'm going to say this and I know I'm right this time, You're not supposed to be here." Loki shook his head, "Thor thought of this so that I could come and see you. I've been sick with worry for you, I've wanted to badly to be here with you." He put his hand on her belly again, "To share in what our union has brought forth." A shiver went up her spine as she recalled that night yet again as she had dozens of times before in her mind. "I had watched you from the portal countless nights and days until a darkness descended over me that I couldn't rid myself of. I have been wrapped in that darkness until tonight. We are one, Sarah." She took his hands in her and kissed them. "I haven't stopped thinking of you, every night I hope and wish and dream that you're coming back to me." Loki closed his eyes, "I promise we will be together. I'll find a way for you and the baby." Sarah squeezed his hands. "Do you want to know what we're having?" Loki looked up, a curious expression on his face, "You already know?"

Sarah jumped up from the couch and ran over to her briefcase on the kitchen island, patting Thor's shoulder as she passed. She returned with three black and white ultrasound pictures and handed them to Loki. "This is an ultrasound picture of the baby. I had to have another one done last month because the baby is slightly bigger than normal at this point, they were thinking of changing my due date." Loki stared at the pictures, amazed. "See right here," She pointed to one of the pictures, "It's not a flagpole and it's not a thumb." Loki smiled, "We're having a boy," Loki glanced over at Thor who was smiling at them, "A son," Sarah made to take the pictures from him but he looked up at her, "May I take one of them back with me?" Sarah nodded, struck to the core when he mentioned returning to oblivion. He selected one of the pictures and held it, gazing down at it every couple seconds. "I've picked a name I think you'd like, Fenris. We can call him Fen. I already am." "Fierce," Loki whispered, "He will be fierce indeed."

Too soon Thor cleared his throat. "Loki, it's time we should be going." Loki groaned, "I need more time here." Thor walked to the couch and touched Loki's shoulder. "Brother, every minute we are here, we are in danger of being found out. If we are ever to get them to let you return here to Earth, we must go." Sarah stood with Loki, he hugging her so tight, it seemed he couldn't let go but then he was standing at the door with the mask in his hands. She kissed him once more, in a low voice he said into her ear, "I love you, Sarah," felt him touch her belly softly and they were gone.

Loki sat in the back of the Jeep, silent, the ultrasound picture tight in his grip. Thor sat in the front seat with Jane, talking in low whispers as they headed back to Fire Island, finally Jane looked in the rearview mirror at Loki, she could see his face in flashes as cars passed them coming in the opposite direction. "So you didn't say how the visit went, Loki." She felt a chill run down her spine as he met her eyes in the mirror. "It is a mystery to me how the human heart can stand such suffering without going completely mad. I can barely control the urge to run back to the city to be with her." Jane hit her directional and changed lanes, "Well perhaps us humans are made of stronger stuff than you thought." Loki said nothing. Jane glanced at Thor and then at Loki again, "You know, in Norse mythology, from what Doctor Selvig said, you've been married twice and have kids already…some bad ones as I recall. What about them?" She watched as Thor looked back at Loki who returned the look.

Loki sat up and leaned forward. "I've had this discussion before, with one of the agents at the office in fact. I've read the Old and New testaments of the Christian faith, quite for fun I assure you. I asked the agent if he believed in such things that were written in the books and he said to me that, in his opinion, the Old testament is a collection of stories, Adam and Eve, Noah's Ark…it is the same with mythology, the ancients made up stories about us, much as your modern authors and storytellers do, though there are truths and untruths to everything. I assure you, I have never married, though I have had one or two brief encounters, mind you in my youth." Jane glanced at Thor who nodded, "So you're saying that Sarah is your first? Bullshit…" Loki gave a mischievous grin, "I never said she was my first." His smile faded, "But she is the only one now."

They reached the Fire Island lighthouse parking lot half an hour later and all stepped out into the glare of the headlights. "Jane, I will return soon." Thor said, picking her up in a hug, kissing her tenderly and setting her down. "You know where I'll be." Jane replied and Thor put his hand to her face, "Yes, you'll be overworking yourself as usual." Jane looked down at her feet. Loki had watched the exchange and when Thor turned and motioned for Loki to follow, he held up his hand and turned to Jane, taking her hand in his, "For what it's worth, thank you for this." Jane was dumbstruck for a moment, then, "I don't know what good it did, Fury may still find out what we did. He's got eyes in the back of his head, I swear." Loki chuckled and let go of her hand. She watched them as they disappeared out of reach of the headlights and a short time later, the bright bolt of light that was the Bifrost, reach down and scoop them up to Asgard.


	12. Chapter 12

Sarah had prayed that it wouldn't snow until she was well into Vermont but she was now driving through Albany in a near whiteout. She peered into the snow, going well under fifty, thinking to herself that she should have listened to Lizzie and taken the extra day off so that she could have ridden with her to their parent's house. Her back was aching from driving so far and the baby had been tap dancing for nearly the whole ride, she was sure it was sensing her tension.

She was glad to be going to Rutland for Thanksgiving. Thankful for the chance to spend time with her family, maybe get her mind off Loki if only for just a day. When her thoughts started to overrun her, she wished even harder that she had gone with her sister the day before.

She was thinking about trying to talk Thor into bringing Loki to New York for Christmas when she felt her rear wheels slide a little. "Better slow down, girl" she said to herself as she glanced in the rearview mirror.

It was almost four in the afternoon when she pulled into her parent's driveway in Rutland and almost full dark. As she got out of the car and walked around to the back end of the Kia to get her overnight bag out of the trunk, she could see her nephew, Daniel with his face pressed to the living room window. She walked into a warm house filled with the smell of baking pies. "We're in the kitchen," she heard her mother yell. She put her bag on a big brown velour couch, took off her heavy coat and laid it on top.

Annie Miller was sitting at one end of the kitchen table with Lizzie and they were peeling sweet potatoes for the casserole and Daniel was at the far end of the table with crayons and a pad of paper, trying to draw a turkey. Sarah eased herself into a chair beside Lizzie. "We tried calling you a couple hours ago. What happened?" Her mother asked her. Sarah frowned, "Oh I forgot to charge my phone last night and then I forgot the car charger when I left so it died." She picked up a spare peeler and started in on a sweet potato. "Where's dad?" "Grandpa went to get pizza for us for supper." Daniel piped up. "Sounds fine to me, I haven't had anything since I left New York." Sarah sighed. Her mother clucked her tongue, "Sarah, that baby needs food too. You have to eat." Sarah nodded, "I know but the storm made me nervous, I saw a real bad wreck around Albany, two cars and a tractor trailer involved. I just wanted to get here."

They heard a kick on the kitchen door and jumped. Sarah could see her father's face in the window. "Daniel go open the door for grandpa." Lizzie said. Daniel jumped up and opened the back door and her father walked in, arms full with two large pizzas from Dominos. "Dan," Annie said, eliciting an answer from both Daniel and her father. "Big Dan," Annie said as everyone laughed, "Why didn't you call us and tell us you were on your way." Her father rolled his eyes and set the pizzas on the table. "Ann it's no big deal." He opened one of the kitchen cupboards and pulled out paper plates.

Her father was tall, barrel chested, with a slight belly and arms the size of logs with a stance like Paul Bunyan, a smile that lit up his whole face, a sense of humor and a knack for storytelling. "Let me just say, we are not the only ones getting pizza on the night before Thanksgiving." He said as he sat down and began to divide the pizza while Annie got plastic cups from the counter and a bottle of Pepsi from the fridge. Sarah put a hand to her stomach as the baby tumbled and curled against her palm. "I'm always cold nowadays. I asked the doctor and he said it could be my circulation. I'm thinking that's wonderful, another thing to go on my old body." Sarah said as she dug into the slice of pizza before her. After a few minutes of eating and banter, Dan turned to Sarah and asked, "So have you heard from the father?" Sarah was chewing her pizza and had to swallow hard to get it down, "Yes, I heard from him on Halloween." Dan nodded and smiled, a smile Sarah knew well. " Are we ever going to meet him? We don't even know who he is." Sarah stood abruptly, "I'll be right back, I'm going to get my phone charger out of my bag." "Sarah," She heard her father say as she walked out into the living room to root in her bag for the charger and think up something to tell him.

She was kneeling on the couch and had just grabbed the cord when she heard her nephew's voice in the kitchen and she froze, "I know who it is, I met him this summer at one of my softball games. He came with Sarah, his name is Loki and he's Thor's brother. Thor stood at the dugout and helped cheer us on. He's even bigger in real life than he is on TV.." She heard Lizzie then, "Daniel Jacob!" and Daniel's whining voice, "But mom, didn't you say that Loki was her boyfriend but we couldn't tell anyone?" and Lizzie's retort, "This is telling someone, Daniel." Sarah stood up on feet that felt rooted to the floor. "Sarah," She heard her father calling from the kitchen.

Sarah walked into the kitchen and headed for the counter, her phone in her hand, plugged in the cord and hooked in the phone with a beep for her effort. "Sarah," Her father said again, "Daniel here is under the impression that someone named Loki is the baby's father." Sarah glanced at Daniel who was now hiding his face in the drawing pad. "Where is this guy now? Is he in New York? Lizzie said you had worked with the father." Sarah shook her head and sat back down next to Lizzie who was staring at her plate, her cup of soda, anywhere but at Sarah. "He's not in New York. He's back home where he came from." Dan nodded, still the same tense smile, "And where is that?" Sarah had rehearsed the answers dozens of times for people in the doctor's office, the Lamaze class that she was taking with Lily, people at Stark Towers, "Northern Europe." Dan nodded, "Northern Europe, how northern?" Sarah put her hand on her forehead, "Scandinavia I guess." Her father's smile had faded a bit, "So what is it he does for a living then?" Sarah had wanted to avoid all of this, she had considered claiming it was a sperm donor but the very thought made her sick to her stomach. "He's in the family business. Power management, weaponry, something like that. His family is well off"

Dan stood up and started to pace the kitchen, really working up a head of steam now. "Sarah Bean, would you want to tell me why this man decided to get my sweet little girl pregnant then leave the country?" " Maybe he had to go back home to Asgard with his brother?" she heard her nephew say from the end of the table and she was aware of how uncanny children were when it came to somehow knowing the truth. "Asgard, where the hell is that?.."And in unison with Sarah, "Northern Europe, yeah you said that, I've never heard of it," She heard Daniel start to speak and she threw him a glare to freeze fire. He promptly shut his mouth and started to draw again. "So is he going to have his name put on the birth certificate?" Sarah nodded, "Of course he is." "And that would be?" Dan had sidled up to Sarah's chair. "Laufeyson." She said looking at her mother for help but she sat listening intently to their exchange. "And, "Dan said turning to his grandson, "You said his brother was bigger in real life than on TV. Is he some kind of celebrity?" Daniel shook his head, "No grandpa, Thor is a superhero, he helped save New York last summer when the aliens came." Dan whipped his head around in Sarah's direction, "He's one of them mutants? Is this Loki character a mutant too?" Sarah shook her head and said a bit louder and angrier than she wanted to, "He is most certainly not a mutant." Dan leaned over beside her and said, "but he most certainly is not normal is he." Finally Sarah had reached her breaking point and stood up. "Can't you all just be happy that I'm going to have a baby without grilling me like this. It's hard enough to be doing this alone..damnit, see what happens?" She said, trying to wipe the tears from her face with the sleeve of her sweater, "Damnit,"

She stalked out of the kitchen and up the stairs to her old bedroom where she flopped down on her side, grabbed a tissue from a box on the nightstand and wiped her nose, angry that she'd been so weepy for the past two months. Everything had been making her cry, even sentimental commercials. At least this time she had a legitimate reason, she said to herself as she listened to her mother and father arguing through the grate in her room.

She had been dozing lightly when her sister sat on the edge of her bed and smoothed her hair from her face. "I'm sorry about Daniel, Sarah." Lizzie said. "Sometimes I talk too much to him about what's going on. I forget he's just a kid still." Sarah opened her eyes and peered up at her sister, "It's nobody's fault but mine, I guess I should have told them in the first place, I just didn't know how to tell them about him. I still don't." lizzie shrugged, "You could add in some white lies to make it sound not so bad." Sarah glanced up at Lizzie, "Not that it does," She added, "Just give them time to adjust and let's hope Loki comes home when you have the baby." Sarah nodded, "I'm more than hoping, I'm praying." Lizzie stood up from the bed, "Get some rest, I'll come up to see you later after we're done in the kitchen."

Sarah fell back into a light doze, listening to her mother and sister's muted conversation in the kitchen. They were planning a baby shower for her and she tried hard not to hear them as they planned the surprise party for the second week in December. She turned to the other side, covered her ears with a pillow so she couldn't hear them and was fast asleep in minutes, her arms wrapped protectively around her belly.

Thanksgiving dawned clear and sparkling as Sarah and her family started preparations for the big dinner while on Asgard, preparations were being made for a celebration of another kind.

Volstagg and his wife, Frida had recently been blessed with a baby girl and the court was readying to welcome the little girl, whom they'd named Ariadne, with a ceremony to recognize and mark her. Loki had stayed well away from the Great Hall, unwilling to watch as the feast was prepared, though court etiquette require that he and Thor be present to recognize a new citizen of the Aesir, Loki preferred to be alone with his thoughts until then. He considered riding out to the portal and asking Heimdall to show Sarah to him again but it only served to make him angrier each time as he watched other people, Lily, Jane, Stark's girl Potts, hug her and touch her stomach and laugh. He also considered going down to the arena for some swordplay but it was deserted, everyone was preparing for the celebration.

Thor was in his chambers, putting on his court dress, he had just fastened the red cloak to his shoulders when Loki walked in. "Brother, you aren't dressed yet for the ceremony." Thor cried when he saw him walk in dressed in a brown tunic and breeches. Loki crossed his arms, "I've no taste for this. Must we go?" Thor walked up to him and steered him out into the hall to his chambers next door, "You know we must. Just think, you will be the next one to have this privilege bestowed upon you. We must honor Volstagg by seeing his child is properly welcomed as well." Loki looked at the servant standing by his bed with his court dress in hand. "I will see you at court, Loki." Thor said as he walked from the room. Loki turned and grabbed the clothes from the servant who flinched at Loki's movement and skittered from the room as Loki began to undo his breeches and waved him away.

Loki had stood in the Throne Room beside Thor and listened to the Allfather proclaim the squalling baby girl a citizen of Asgard, had watched as he marked her shoulder and Volstagg held her high above his head to cheers and thunderous applause, then he had walked before the court, each one holding their hands upon the baby's brow in blessing. Loki had touched her head, felt the soft hair there, the satin skin and he had clenched his jaw tightly together, swallowing the groan that wished to escape him.

He now sat across from Thor, calling for the goblet of mead he had kept in his hand from the moment he'd set down at the table in the great hall to be filled and refilled. He could see Thor doing the same and wondered if he had meant it as a challenge as he stared across the table at Loki and drained a goblet in one gulp. Loki's head was beginning to swim. He looked up the table to where Volstagg and Fandral sat embroiled in an eating contest involving rolled birds, pieces of rolled lamb in a cream sauce. People were cheering them on, Sif and Frida included, the din drilling into Loki's head, he closed his eyes for a minute and when he opened them, he could see his mother up on the dais cooing over the baby Ariadne which she held in her arms, with Odin standing behind her and he could feel the resentment rising in him. Thor had risen from his seat, wavering as he slipped through the people around him, to give Volstagg encouragement. "Fandral is slowing, my friend, you have always been the stomach of Asgard!" Thor said, clapping Volstagg on the back, causing him to swallow harder than he had expected. Loki held up his goblet for the server who refilled it and he took a long draught, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. Finally he stood up from the chair, sat back down when his legs refused, at first, to budge, then rose again, pushing away from the table, around the chair he'd just left, that he grabbed hold of to save himself from spilling to the floor. He walked unsteadily out of the great hall and down the torch lit corridors, stopping more than once to lean against a wall until his head stopped spinning, till he reached the entrance to the Bifrost just outside the palace walls.

Thor looked down the table, wishing Loki to join them but couldn't find him. He scanned the crowd around him slowly. Backing away from what was quickly becoming a celebration of Volstagg's victory over a moaning Fandral, he started to search the great hall for Loki. He wove through the corridors, calling to Loki, "Brother, where are you? The night is still young!"

Loki could hear Thor in the distance behind him as the immense doors to the outer bridge creaked open and he stepped onto the Bifrost, a foot slipping from under him and bringing him to one knee with a melodic hum from the crystal roadway. He stood back up, still unsteady and started to walk out onto the bridge, the wind whipping his cloak to the left, adding to his already weaving steps. "Brother," He could hear Thor only a few steps behind him as the crystal announced his approach. "Where are you going? I have been looking for you, oh hell.."

Loki heard a squeak and a thud as Thor lost his footing and crashed to the surface of the bridge. He turned and looked back at him, "I'm going to the portal, I'm going to see Sarah." He tried to increase his stride, veering dangerously close to the edge of the bridge, listening to Thor as he scrambled to his feet behind him, "No, Loki, you will not leave Asgard tonight. Father has bid us go to Alfheim tomorrow to restore relations with the light elves" Loki looked back and the effort caused him to stumble, "Father does this in a pitiful bid to keep me occupied.." "But we must obey him." Thor cried, hands outstretched, "Fuck you…..brother!" Loki growled at Thor then turned and kept walking but had only gotten a few steps when he felt a violent tug at his back as Thor grabbed a handful of his cloak and yanked hard. Loki fell hard, the back of his head bouncing off the bridge, making him wish he'd not taken off his dress helmet when he'd set down at the table earlier as he let out a cry of pain.

He rolled over and got to his hands and knees, teeth bared. Thor was only feet from him, struggling to get his own footing when Loki reached out with one hand, grabbed Thor by the hair and slammed him forehead first into the Bifrost which let out an agitated hum to accompany Thor's moan. Loki had, by then, regained his feet and was still heading away from Asgard towards the portal, he'd gone only a few more steps when he heard a roar and felt Thor plow into him from behind, sending them both skidding forward, the metal plate at Loki's chest clanging loudly as it hit. "No brother, fuck you! You will stop this insane.." Thor paused.. "Thing you are doing and come back to the great hall with me." Loki glanced over his shoulder at Thor. "I can't very well do anything of the sort with your great ass atop mine." Thor rolled off Loki to stand up but Loki got to his hands and knees, starting to crawl forward to put some distance between himself and Thor who grabbed at Loki's leg but put his hand through nothing, Loki now standing farther down the bridge, laughing until he lost his footing yet again, falling to his back for the second time, this time putting his hands behind his head to avoid hitting it again. This gave Thor the advantage he wanted and as Loki turned over to his hands and knees again, Thor had grabbed Loki by the ankle and was dragging him slowly backwards towards him. Before Thor could put his hands upon Loki's leg, Loki pointed his foot outward and his boot slid from his leg, sending Thor tumbling backwards.

Loki watched as Thor rolled over and lay there on the bridge, boot in hand and suddenly he couldn't control himself, he began to giggle. Thor rose up on his elbows and stared at Loki who returned his gaze and all at once, Thor started to chuckle, throwing the boot at Loki who batted it away and started laughing harder himself. He sat up on the bridge, reached down and pulled his other boot off, throwing it at Thor who caught it, both of them laughing so hard they could barely speak, "Here, you…great stone head….take them both and shove them…up.." Loki couldn't finish the sentence and flopped onto his back, laughing harder now. Thor, crawling to where he lay and punched him in the arm before he collapsed, the both of them panting hard. After a few minutes, Loki spoke, "Does she still pine for me as I do for her, brother?" Thor reached over and put his hand on Loki's shoulder, "You know the answer." Loki closed his eyes as the stars overhead began to swim and darken, winking out as the mead finished its work.

"I've found them," Volstagg said, "Pitiful, besotted souls." Fandral walked out onto the bridge to stand beside him. "So you have. We must do the honorable thing and bring them home mustn't we?" Volstagg nodded, bent over to Loki, groaning as his distended stomach protested, took Loki by the arm and threw him over his shoulder as Fandral struggled to get Thor to his feet, putting his arm around his shoulder. "This is insufferable," Volstagg grumbled as he began to walk back toward the doors to Asgard, "If he purges upon my cloak, I'm holding you responsible, Fandral, it was your idea to come and find them." Fandral was struggling to keep Thor upright, and glanced at Volstagg, "How is that fair? I have the bigger of the two to uphold all the way home" They were still grumbling at each other as the doors closed behind them.

December 10


	13. Chapter 13

Christmas morning started with an icy rain in Rutland. Sarah lay in her bed listening to the pings on the roof and once again fingered the necklace at her throat. She had exchanged gifts with Thor and Jane the day before she left for Vermont, had given the ring she'd bought for Loki to Thor to deliver to him when he went home and Thor had given her a small package in return. "Loki sent this for you." She'd opened it to find a gold necklace upon which hung a gold pendant, a rectangle with celtic working around the outer rim, and in the center, what looked like two snakes intertwined in a sort of yin/yang configuration. "It is Loki's standard." Thor had said, "His symbol, do you understand?" Sarah had nodded, thought of the ring she'd been drawn to that now sat in Thor's jacket pocket, and smiled. "I'd tell you to give him a hug and kiss from me but I don't think it would mean the same." Thor had grinned then, "I will do my level best to convey the message, M'lady, though I'm not sure Loki will enjoy it." They had laughed and she had set there wondering at how her life had changed inside of a year.

She rolled to her side and rubbed her back. She'd been sore for the last two days, more than usual in fact, and she stretched to try and remove the kinks from it, receiving a slight roll against her palm for the effort. The baby hadn't been moving as much lately and at first she'd voiced her concern to the doctor who told her that space was at a premium in there, that the baby had moved from a mill apartment into a studio. As she lay there, she could suddenly smell coffee and it moved her enough to make her sit up and swing her legs over to the floor. Getting up was so much more difficult now and she arched her back, pushing with her hands on the bed until she was standing up. When she reached the bathroom and raised her nightgown to relieve herself, she was startled to feel that it was already wet and then she felt pain run through her back again as she turned to walk back to the bedroom. When she reached the bed, she felt the sheets where she'd been laying and they were damp. "Aw you've got to be kidding me."

She went back to the bathroom after grabbing a pair of slacks and a top, she started the shower then returned to the bedroom to remove the sheets from the bed. "Kid, you're taking me to a whole new level of problems." She said as she dropped the wet sheets in a pile in the hallway beside her bedroom door and returned to the bathroom to take a shower.

"Christmas morning has to start out like this?" She mumbled to herself as she washed up. Another twinge of pain in her back as she stepped from the shower made her stop and look down. She quickly pulled on her pants and her top and made her way down stairs to the kitchen where everyone was involved fixing breakfast. "Can we open presents now?" Daniel asked as soon as he saw Sarah walk into the kitchen. "After breakfast kiddo," Sarah's father said, "How's my Sarah bean this morning?" Sarah smiled and motioned to her sister to come into the living room, "I'm fine, be right back."

Lizzie came in to the living room where Sarah was standing beside the tree. "I think my water broke." Sarah whispered, "What?" Lizzie shouted and Sarah shushed her, "Geez keep it down will you, I don't want mom and dad to know until after we've done the presents. I don't want to ruin everyone's Christmas." Lizzie steered her to the couch and sat her down. "Ruin? This isn't exactly a disaster you're having. Are you getting any contractions?" Sarah shrugged, "My back hurts and I read that labor can be centered in your back too." "But this is early, isn't it? You're not due till the third week in January." Lizzie reminded her. "Just gather everyone in the living room as soon as you can, I haven't had a zing for twenty minutes now, since I stepped out of the shower upstairs. Maybe I was just leaking a little." Lizzie glanced into the kitchen and back at Sarah, "Okay, but if it gets worse, we're going, presents or not." Sarah nodded in agreement as Lizzie quick stepped back into the kitchen to fetch the rest of the family.

Loki twirled the entwined snake ring on his right ring finger, watching it glitter in the candlelight, wondering how she could have made such an appropriate choice for a gift. The warm wind rustled the flaps of the tent he occupied in the encampment, himself, Thor, and a handful of warriors had been traipsing around Alfheim for better than five days visiting various tribes, making new inroads with the light elves of the realm though there were more than a few that refused to deal with him, instead talking to Thor, thereafter explaining that they could see the darkness that still dwelt deep within Loki. It both angered and curiously enough, saddened him to think that not even love could dispel what lies beneath the surface.

He heard Thor approaching the tent, talking in a low voice to one of their compliment, then he lifted the flap, walked in and set down in a chair across from Loki. "We will head back to Asgard tomorrow. It is Christmas eve in Midgard and I told Jane I would try to be with her on Christmas day. It is of great importance to her, this Christian holiday and she wanted to share it with me." Loki looked up at Thor and back down at his ring, saying nothing. "I see you are well pleased with Sarah's gift." Thor said as he watched Loki turn the ring. "As she was with yours." Loki allowed a slight smile, "How would she know about my standard? You say you said nothing to her?" Thor shook his head, "Not until I gave her the necklace and she had already given me your gift." Loki nodded, "It will be good to get home, brother." He said quietly, "I am weary of this campaign."

Sarah felt another contraction, drew breath through her nose and blew out through her mouth as gently as she could, glad of the fact that everyone was busy with presents, including herself, though she could barely concentrate on them. She had timed the contractions and they were holding at once every 40 minutes, finally she managed to slip out into the kitchen quietly with her phone.

"Hello?" Jane answered the phone, hoping it was Thor, "Jane?" it was Sarah, "First of all, Merry Christmas, second of all, where's Thor?" Jane walked to the window of her apartment in Brooklyn and looked out at the deserted street, "I don't know, he was supposed to be here by now but he's late. As far as I know, he's still in Asgard, why?" "Asgard?" Sarah paled, panic starting to set in. "Oh Jane, I'm in Rutland and," Here she dropped her voice to a whisper, "I'm in labor." "In labor already?" She heard Jane shout into the phone, "Yes, my water broke last evening, I think when I was asleep. Thor has to tell Loki. After we get done here, I'm going to tell my parents and we're heading to Rutland Regional I guess, I'd rather be at my own hospital in New York but it can't be helped, I don't think I'd make it there. Call me when Thor gets there would you please?" Jane agreed, "But aren't you early?" Sarah looked out to the living room and saw her father stand up, headed for the kitchen. "I gotta go, my father is coming, talk to you soon." She smiled a bit to herself, thinking about how teenaged that statement had sounded as her father found her by the kitchen door. "Hey Bean, we're not done yet." Another pang, this time around her belly, made her bend over and breath deep, she looked up at the clock on the wall, "Dad, we're going to have to be done right now. I'm in labor." She heard not a peep from her father, rather she heard the scramble of feet and her father's voice in the living room. "Everyone get dressed," A groan from Daniel, "But we're not finished yet," And her father's voice again, "We are for now, go."

She sat in one of the kitchen chairs easing back at the contraction passed and her mother came up to her. "Where are your boots Sarah?" Her mother asked, a mask of calm covering her voice as her shaking hands did the talking while she tried to help Sarah pull on her boots she'd fetched from the mat near the kitchen door. Suddenly Sarah remembered, "Oh mom, my overnight bag is in New York!" Her mother glanced up at her, "We'll get what we need here, that's the last thing you need to worry about." Sarah was in complete agreement with her mother.

Jane was pacing the floor of the apartment when she heard quick steps to her door and a loud knock. She raced to the door and flung it open to find Thor standing there, duffle in hand and a big smile on his face, "Go back, go back," Jane said, pushing him out the door and into the hallway, Thor staring at her in confusion, "To New York Jane? I am truly sorry for being so late returning. We were on campaign and it takes a bit to come through the portal." Jane had grabbed her coat and was locking her door behind her. "Sarah is in labor!" she cried but when she turned back to Thor, he was already down the stairs and to Jane's car.

As they fought the traffic over the bridge to Manhattan, Jane cursed the rule that Fury had now imposed on Thor. The Bifrost would be aimed at the landing platform on the top of the office building that housed S.H.I.E. L.D. in New York. "So as not to scare the generally populace of just about anywhere you decide to beam yourself in that rainbow colored tornado." , was how Fury had put it so they now had to return to New York just to send him back home to get Loki.

"She is not yet at her quickening though," Thor remarked, "how is it that she is in labor?" Jane shrugged, "Sometimes the baby has other ideas. That's the thing about life, it's unpredictable." Jane thought that was the understatement of the century as she sped down the streets towards the office instead of doing what she had planned for the day, fixing a cozy Christmas dinner for two, exchanging presents, messing up the bed sheets until the 26


	14. Chapter 14

The nurse had brought a laptop and papers down to the room for Sarah and Loki to sign just after lunch later that day as everyone was sitting in the room, chatting amiably, admiring the baby, even Fury had cracked a smile as he looked at the baby asleep in it's bassinet.

The nurse, a young brunette, sat down at the table across from Loki, who'd picked up Fen as he'd started to cry and was now holding him in the crook of his arm, smiling at him. "So he was born at five fifty-one this morning, ten pounds, eleven ounces..now that's a boy right there. Gonna be a football player" The nurse smiled down at Fen who yawned his opinion of the proceedings. "Ok mother's name, Sarah Miller," She paused to type into her laptop, "Father's name?" "Loki" The nurse glanced at Loki, "L..o..k..?" "I" He finished for her, "Last name?" "Laufeyson." the nurse shook her head, "Nothing easy like Smith or Jones huh?" she had him spell it out as she typed. "What nationality is that?" Sarah looked to Loki just as he looked to her and they both laughed. "Scandinavian." Loki finally said. "Okay, Sarah, parents names?" Sarah said her parent's names and waited, watching Loki as the nurse turned to him, "Your parent's names?" Loki gazed around the room at Thor, Jane, Lizzie, Sarah's mother and father. "Odin and Frigga." The nurse slowed till she had stopped typing, "Last name?" Loki kept his gaze on Fen, "Allfather" The nurse typed the names into the computer, "Yessir, now that's unique isn't it."

Sarah cast a look at Lily, glad that she'd sent Daniel to stay with Grandma Hunter for a few days, imagining in her mind what he would be saying right now. Fen had now started to fuss more and Sarah got up slowly out of her bed and took Fen from Loki's arms. "He might need to be changed, come on, no time to learn like the present." She felt Loki's hand on her back as he stood behind her watching intently as she opened a new diaper slipping off Fen's old one and quickly replacing it with the new one which she deftly wrapped around his tummy, folding the edge over to uncover the clip at the belly button. "Daniel was a regular fountain, remember Lizzie? He used to christen me every time I came over, I learned to be fast enough, though." Fury who had been silently watching the exchange, came over and tapped Thor on the shoulder, bidding him to come into the hallway.

"I have to return to New York," Fury took his phone from his pocket, "An urgent matter with that damned scepter again. I am leaving you a car with two agents waiting to drive you all back to New York when she's ready to go. Now I'm entrusting Loki to your care. Don't let me down." Thor nodded, "We shall see you there. I promise."

The day had burned away to evening and Thor and Jane had been given a room at Sarah's parents for the evening, Thor knowing that Loki would not move from where he was right now even if all the hounds of hell were at his heels. Sarah's mother kissed her cheek, then the baby's head before she left, saying to Loki, "You take care of them now." Loki had smiled and she had patted his cheek before she left, Sarah's father still distant and silent at the doorway.

Now they were alone, Fen quietly feeding, Loki standing at the window watching the snow softly falling orange in the amber parking lot lights. "We must go to Asgard before seven days have passed to welcome and mark him as a citizen of Asgard." He said, turned to Sarah who was watching him, "I'm not so sure Fury is willing to let it happen." She mused, "Loki, let's try to do everything he says this time." He shook his head, "If he says I cannot take our son to Asgard for his birthright, what would you have me do?" Sarah took Fen from her breast, his chin quivering as he still suckled in his sleep, laid him in the bassinet, came up to Loki and put her arms around his neck, kissing him softly until he sat down on her bed, his knees unable to support him, and she sat on his lap savoring the reaction she had garnered from him. "I've missed so much being in Asgard," He murmured, laying his head against her chest, "the nearness of you, the sound of your voice, the smell of your perfume, your cooking." She giggled at him as he looked up at her and smiled that smile that had first made her heart skip a beat so long ago. "I will make up for it though. I assure you." Sarah nodded, putting her arms around his neck, stroking his hair, breathing in the very scent of him. "We both will."

The room was quiet except for the occasional footfall of a passing nurse, Sarah and Fen had been asleep for hours but Loki had been tossing and turning on the easy chair/daybed not for want of comfortable quarters, but for something trying to get into his mind that he couldn't shake. He pulled the seat up, his arms on the rests, and closed his eyes. After what seemed like only moments, he was aware that the room had grown cold, he could feel the temperature dropping, the gooseflesh rising on his arms. He opened his eyes to find the room bathed in steel blue light, as his vision began to adjust, he realized he could see his breath. He scanned the room until he reached Fen's bassinet at the end of Sarah's bed, horrified to see the form of a man, whose head nearly reached the ceiling, bending far over to place a large hand upon his head, eliciting a squeak from Fen, a sound that would have driven Loki to his feet had he been able to move. As the form turned its head and gave him a tight lipped grin, his hands convulsed around the armrests, he could see the form's eyes, blood red, trained on him and Loki fought back with the only weapon he had at his disposal, "Aldri taka minn burr endr!" He had shouted at him, in his mind saying, "Never touch my son again!", and taken aback as the words of the ancients came unbidden to him. The form walked towards him until he was standing between Loki and Sarah, still fast asleep in the hospital bed. Fen had begun to fuss in his bassinet and Loki prayed to the Allfather that she would not waken at this minute. Loki could see now what stood before him as the light of the half moon spying in through the window cast light on the form's deep blue skin and finally it spoke.

"The tongue of the Ancients. I would think it had been lost to you long ago." The frost giant moved to the bed and sat down beside Sarah who stirred a bit then lay still again. Loki struggled with all his strength to rise from the chair, teeth bared, cold sweat breaking upon his arms as the muscles beneath strained then began to shudder from exhaustion, his effort finally replaced with an all-consuming rage as the giant reached over to put a hand to Sarah's face. "Loki, son of Laufey, I am Menyir, ruler of Jotunheim, also a son of Laufey." He paused then turned his gaze to Loki who locked eyes with him, "Retribution, mark well this word. What the Allfather took from us ages ago will now be returned to us a thousandfold."

Loki could only watch in horror as ice began to form across Sarah's face and Fen began to squall and flail as the windows began to frost over, each breath Loki drew in cutting like needles as the room became far colder and he felt consciousness slipping from him..

Sarah had wrapped the blanket around herself tighter, wanting to stand up and turn up the heat but not wanting to get up and do so, she was repositioning herself in the bed when she heard Loki draw in a ragged breath in the chair beside her. She turned over and swung her feet over the floor, watching in horror as Loki seemed to struggle against something she couldn't see, his arms, his face, deep blue in the moonlight. Fen had heard the commotion and was now starting his little squeaking cry. Sarah reached over her bed and pulled the light cord, not caring who saw what was happening, stood up and grabbed Loki by the shoulders. "Hey, wake up!' She whispered loudly, shaking him again as he struggled to breath and finally, steeling herself, she opened her hand and slapped him across the face, nearly erupting into a scream as his hand came up from the arm of the chair and caught hers as it came around, his eyes snapping open, blood red as he yanked her off her feet. She fell to her knees in front of the chair, the only thing stopping her from hitting the floor harder being his grip on her wrist. She could hear fast footsteps approaching from the hallway as she tried to regain her footing. She turned to look at Loki, who was breathing harder now, the color gone from his face, his blue-green eyes staring down at her in disbelief, the grip on her arm lighter now as he stood to pick her up. She could feel him trembling as he finally found his voice, "What the hell did I do?" Sarah turned to see the nurse rushing over to her, "Did you fall out of bed? Oh my god. Sit down." The nurse guided Sarah to the side of the bed, Sarah nodding as she looked down at her feet. Loki had walked to the bassinet and picked up Fen, whom he now had against his shoulder, a hand to his back while he paced back and forth.

The nurse had Sarah get back up on the bed, "What happened, were you trying to get up to get the baby?" Sarah saw Loki glance at her from where he stood behind the nurse. "Yeah he was starting to fuss so I went to get him and I think I tripped over his legs." She motioned towards Loki. "Well do you feel any pain anywhere, your back or legs or feet?" Sarah nodded, "I hit my knees pretty good but I'm sure it's nothing bad." Fen would not be silenced now, he was hungry and Loki, putting him in the crook of his arm, had given him a knuckle to teeth on, bringing only fleeting relief. Sarah motioned to Loki to bring Fen to her and he laid him in her lap. "He's a hungry boy." The nurse smiled and stroked his fine hair as Sarah tried to position him to take her breast, her shaking hands defeating her until the nurse reached over to help, patting her hand. "It's okay, you didn't break anything right?" Sarah shook her head and gave her a half-hearted smile. Okay, I'm going to let you guys alone, you're probably going home tomorrow right?" "Yeah," Sarah answered, "After the doctor comes in and takes one more look at us." "Well then you make sure to tell him if you're hurting worse from the fall, okay?" Sarah assured her she would and the nurse left the room heading for the station.

She fed Fen in silence for nearly ten minutes, Loki sitting forward in the chair, elbows resting on his knees, staring at the floor. She glanced at the clock on the wall across from her bed, nearly five in the morning. It would be getting light soon. She took Fen away from her breast and laid him on the bed. "Will you get me a diaper," She said to Loki. He handed her the diaper and she began to unwrap her angry little boy, trying to get between his flailing arms and legs to unstrap the old diaper on him. She was trying to re-swaddle him when she finally spoke, "What the hell did happen, Loki?" He said nothing and for a moment she thought he was going to ignore her. "I don't know, I had a spectacularly bad dream." Sarah put Fen on her shoulder, patting his back as his squeaks quieted then finally ceased. She laid him in the bassinet and came to stand before Loki who was sitting in the chair, hand to his forehead, leaning on the arm of the chair. "Hey," she said, sitting on his lap and curling into his arm, "You can tell me about your dreams. You're safe here." Loki turned his head to stare at her, "Safe, you did see what happened to me didn't you? And what I did to you, Odin help me." Sarah reached up her hand and put it on his chest. "You've had bad dreams before. How is this one different?" Loki enfolded her in a fierce hug, "It was different because you were there to see it." He kissed the top of her head, "I was afraid I'd hurt you." Sarah pulled in closer to him, "I'm fine, the baby's fine, we're going to be fine together, and soon, we'll be going to Asgard and see grandma and grandpa." She could feel him smile against her hair, "I can hardly wait, dearest heart." He whispered as behind them, the sun began to peek over the mountains and a rivulet of water from the melted frost that had coated the window, ran to the floor in a small puddle.

At eight-thirty that morning, Fury was trotting down the hall to the coded security elevator, an agent named Joss beside him keeping step. Fury stopped at the elevator panel, waited as the scanner cast a green light over his face and beeped as the door slid open.

When he stepped off the elevator at sub-level 6, Banner was waiting for him, standing amidst a maze of pipes and large tanks, "Lead the way." Fury said and they all started down the access way towards the containment tank where the scepter had been relocated, except that when Fury walked over to the edge of the three story high tank and looked down, he saw nothing but a clear empty rectangular box. "When did you notice it was missing, Doctor?" Fury asked him, still staring down into the tank, willing the scepter to re-appear. "I'd say when the alarms started to go off." Banner glanced down into the tank, "We have used primary and secondary precautions, gloves, gowns, the whole works. No skin to metal contact so it couldn't have been one of us," Fury turned to look at him, "Never say couldn't, doc. And what do you mean no skin to metal?"

Banner took the tablet he'd been carrying under his arm and tapped the screen. "Well that's what activates it, why it makes a portal, the electrical charge on our skin creates a bond or something that turns it on. Remember those lamps everyone used to have, you could touch the metal base to make them turn on or off? Same priniciple." Fury looked back into the tank, "Well someone or something had to touch it then. What about video feed?" Banner tapped the screen of his pad and held it out to Fury. "Not much actually, whatever it was fried the system cameras. This is all we got before the system failed." Fury watched an image of the scepter for a minute then saw the air before it begin to shimmer and coalesce into a form that quickly became unidentifiable as the lens of the camera began to frost, then to ice over until it blinked out, a dark form unrecognizable beyond the thick ice. "Loki," Fury said, pulled his phone from his pocket, dialed a number, "Yes I'd like room 11, maternity ward please," A pause as Fury stared at the phone, then, "Well this is an emergency then.."

Her mother had driven her black Santa Fe to pick them up from the hospital, the car seat she'd gotten over the summer hooked into the rear seat. "Here I picked up an outfit last night on the way home for Fen to leave the hospital in." Her mother said handing the small sage green union suit with baby giraffes on it to Sarah who took it and started to unwrap Fen from his blanket. "The nurse has already been in to see us so we can leave as soon as they take his picture." Seeming to hear her, one of the nurses walked in with a camera and a form. "Is Fen ready for his debut?" Sarah smiled, "Almost, just about dressed." She looked to Loki who had been quiet ever since the bad dream hours earlier. "Loki, love…why don't you start to pack the bag they gave us. It's on the table." Loki moved as if in a trance but his hands started to pick up the papers she'd told him to grab and slipped them into the little baby bag as they put Fen in his outfit in the bassinet one more time while the nurse clicked the button on the camera and handed Sarah the piece of paper, telling her that she could order more photos with it.

They had just strapped a whimpering Fen into the car seat when the phone rang at the nurses maternity station.

Fury, closed his phone and started back for the elevator. The receptionist at the nurses desk had told him that they had left and were heading to Rutland.

The phone in the Miller kitchen rang as they were pulling in to the dooryard and Dan answered it. "Hello, Miller residence." He heard a vaguely familiar voice on the other end. "Mr. Miller, is your daughter there, I need to speak with her." "They just pulled in, who's this?" Dan said watching out the window as Sarah, Loki and Annie trudged up the back steps. The black car with the two agents pulling in behind the Santa Fe as they reached the door."This is Director Fury and I need to speak with Sarah as soon as possible."

Loki opened the door and held it for Sarah, who had Fen wrapped in a blanket in her arms. She looked at her father who had the phone in his hand, covering the mouthpiece as he motioned for her to come to him. She turned and handed Fen to Loki then walked over to the arch to the living room where her father was now standing. "You better take it in here," He mouthed, glancing at Loki who was bouncing Fen gently and had his attention drawn by Annie who was putting a hand to the back of Fen's head.

Sarah took the phone, "Hello?" and heard Fury's voice, "Miss Miller? Where is Loki right now." Sarah turned in the direction of the kitchen and saw Loki walking into the living room towards her, having handed the baby to her mother, "Who is it?" Loki asked, bending and giving her a quick peck, "He's right here," She was interrupted by Thor and Jane who had just come down the stairs, "Where's the baby?" Jane asked, Sarah smiled and pointed towards the kitchen. "Miss Miller this is serious." Fury said into her ear, "Has Loki been with you this entire time? Did he step out of the room at all? Did you ever lose sight of him." Sarah tried to give Loki a reassuring grin but it wouldn't come and he was now staring at her, looking serious as the grave. "Who is it?" He asked again a bit louder, "You mean did I hold his hand while he used the bathroom? No…but he's been with me all the time." Loki was now holding his hand out for the phone, pretty sure he knew who was on the other end but Sarah held her hand up, "Miss Miller, maybe I haven't educated you on the bag of tricks that Loki is. You're sure he's been with you.."

Sarah never got the chance to answer as Loki pulled the phone from her hand, "What's going on, Fury?" Loki could hear the creak of a chair, "Well you know that glorified pig sticker you brought with you on your way out of hell?" Loki didn't answer, waiting, "Well it's gone missing and the video feed seems to have your name written all over it." "Missing," Loki said, he glanced at Sarah who was now at the receiving end, "Who's gone missing?" Loki put a hand over the mouthpiece, leaned over and whispered in her ear, "The scepter is missing." Sarah's eyes widened, "Fury thinks I've got it." He could hear Fury shouting something into the phone and he returned it to his ear, "I want you here in NewYork in two hours. I have notified the agents that.." "Two hours!" Loki shouted, "It's going to take a bit longer than that to drive there and you've told us not to use the Bifrost here." Thor had walked into the room and was listening to Loki's conversation, "The agents are going to bring you to the airport, a jet is on its way, should be there in ten minutes." Loki stared at the phone, "Out of the question, I'm going to ride with Sarah and the baby."

Loki handed the phone to Thor and stalked into the kitchen where he lifted Fen from Annie and stood there cradling him in his arms. Thor held the phone to his ear, "Hello?" Fury's voice boomed in his ear, "Thor, you had better see to it that he gets on that jet if he doesn't want to lose his visitor privileges." "What is going on, director?" Thor asked, watching Jane and Sarah, their heads close together, whispering. "That damn scepter is missing and I want your brother on guarded watch while he's on this planet." Thor walked into the kitchen with the phone, "Director, if you're implying what I believe you are, I assure you that you couldn't be more wrong." Annie glanced back and forth from Loki to Thor then to Dan who stood in the kitchen doorway arms folded. "Thor, the agents are waiting, maybe you and Miss Foster should come as well." Thor sighed, "This will not be easy," He looked over to where Loki was standing, his gaze fixed on Fen whom Sarah had taken and put at her shoulder. "If it will help to prove my brother an innocent man, I will see to it he goes."

Thor handed the phone to Dan who hung it up. "Brother, we have to go, please," He motioned to Jane, "We have to go with him, I will get our things." Thor passed her, heading upstairs and she followed him. Loki, meanwhile, stood by the door with Sarah, the baby between them. "This is inexcusable, I am forever being driven beyond your reach and this time for nothing I've done." Sarah nodded, looked down at Fen, "I'll get there as soon as I can. I'm going to leave around noon, okay?" "Alone?" Loki cried, "No, you've just had a baby, I can't allow it. Fury will wait, he has no choice." Jane had come back into the kitchen by then, "I'm going to ride with her, Loki. I told Thor to tell Fury we would be on our way. She'll be fine." Sarah nodded though she felt weary to the bone. "Women have been having babies and carrying on with their lives for eons. I'll be fine." Thor had reappeared in the kitchen by then, "Come, Loki." He turned to Jane, "Be careful, my love." Thor looked to Loki, standing there with Sarah, their eyes locked, "I'll be there as soon as I can." They kissed, quick, sweet, intense, he walked to Fen and planted a lingering kiss on his forehead, eliciting a squeak he had grown to love in the space of a day, and they were out the door and walking to the waiting car in the dooryard. Jane put her arms around Sarah's shoulders. "Let's get packing okay? We've got a ways to go."


	15. Chapter 15

Jane, Sarah and the baby arrived in the city at nearly seven that evening, driving straight to the S.H.I.E.L.D. office where Loki, Thor and Fury were standing in the foyer waiting for them, Loki walking to the door to take the baby carrier from Sarah's hands as he put his other arm around her shoulders to hug her to him. "I've informed Loki, that is, we have an understanding after we talked this afternoon," Fury said, Loki not meeting his stare, instead preferring to look at his sleeping son, knowing it hadn't been a talk as much as it had been a shouting match, "That you will be allowed to stay here with Loki in his old quarters with the baby. We have provided a crib for the baby and anything else you might need." Sarah pulled in as tight as she could to Loki. "Well I'm almost out of diapers. I didn't bring extra and we drove straight through to get here." Fury nodded, "We'll get you what you need. It's been a long day for all of you. I suggest you all go get some rest."

As Sarah walked down the hall on level 10 to Loki's old quarters, she looked about her, recalling their first kiss in the hallway, and smiled. They entered the living area and Sarah sat down on the couch, weary to the very center of her being from the trip. She sat there and watched as Loki undid the straps holding Fen into the carrier, picking him up and handing him to her, then sitting beside her, Fen feeding, content. "What do they think happened with that scepter?" She finally asked as she lifted Fen to burp him. Loki put his head back against the couch and closed his eyes, "They really have no idea, they're looking at energy trace signatures trying to match them to a place in time or space where something might have come through. I think Fury knows it wasn't me this time, what scares him is the thought that if it wasn't me then who or what was it."

He had seen it in Fury's eye and thankfully Fury had not seen the reaction in kind as Loki thought of the dream in the hospital. He looked to Sarah to see she had laid her head back and fallen into a light doze. He reached over and took Fen, walking into the bedroom and spying a small bassinet that Fury had said would be in the room, where he laid his sleeping son. He then went back to the living room and scooped up Sarah, carrying her to the bedroom where he took off her boots and helped her shrug out of her coat. She undid the zipper to her jeans and slipped them off, leaving her sweater on as Loki picked the covers up for her to slide under. Where's Fen?" she mumbled as she laid her head on the pillow, her eyes already closing. "He's right in the bassinet beside you." Loki replied as she put out a hand to feel the side of it. "Okay." Loki walked out into the living area and sat on the couch, ready to drop himself when he heard Sarah, "Loki, will you come to bed please?" He stood back up and walked into the bedroom where Sarah was looking at him from the pillow, "You weren't going to really sleep on the couch and leave me in here alone were you?" Loki shrugged, "I was, I suppose. I hadn't been invited after all…" Sarah waved her hand, "Shut up and get in bed." A few moments later, he had stripped down, was curled up behind her, his arm around her stomach, knees bent into hers and they were asleep in seconds, his final thought as he kissed her shoulder and bid her goodnight, that he would face down death to protect Sarah and their son, an all-consuming feeling that made him pull her closer to him as his eyes drifted closed.

Thursday morning she had found a message in the voicemail on her phone when she'd awakened before Loki and Fen. She sat on the couch in the living area, feet tucked underneath her and listened as Pepper voice came up. "Thanks so much for the pictures of Fen, he's so beautiful. I heard you're at the office and I'd love to see the baby. Is there any time that's good for you? Call me, talk to you soon." Sarah hung up the phone and thought for a few minutes, then went into the bedroom and sat down beside Loki who was lying on his stomach, face turned away from her. He shifted over to make room for her. "Nope, I'm up for the day." He reached behind him and grabbed her hand, pulling her over to lie next to him. "I'm up, sorry." She sat back up, "I've got to go to my apartment." Loki's response a muffled "Mmmph" "I've got to get a couple bags packed for myself and the baby. I got a message from Pepper Potts and I think I'm going to go see her with Fen then see if she wants to go over to my apartment with me and watch Fen while I pack."

Loki raised himself up on his elbows, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "Why not leave the baby here with me?" Sarah laid back down and looked at him, "Because I want to show him off, silly." Loki cast her a sidelong glance. I'd go if I could but I'm pretty sure I know Fury's answer, were I to ask." Sarah reached up and pushed the hair back from his face, "Tomorrow, you'll be able to go where you want with me." Loki smiled at this, kissed her, the tenderness making her see stars behind her closed eyes. "Okay",She said, "Gotta get up and make a call, then I'm taking a shower and changing real quick because Squeaks is going to be awake again and calling for his breakfast."

Loki had put his head back down on the pillow, the sound of the running water soothing him into a light sleep until he heard a voice in his ear, "Son of Laufey," Loki opened his eyes, rolling onto his back and sitting straight up, gazing about the room. He stood up from the bed, feeling the cold rising from the floor, enveloping him, chilling his naked body. He reached to the bed and pulled the blanket off it to wrap around him, then walked to the bassinet to check on Fen, turning to shout to Sarah as he saw the bassinet empty. It was then he realized he didn't hear the water running in the shower anymore. Maybe they'd already left. He opened the bathroom door and stumbled backwards as he saw Sarah, frozen in a thick layer of ice, lying half in and out of the tub and he let out a roar..

…that brought Sarah running out of the bathroom, startling Fen as he started to fuss then to cry. "Loki, Jesus Christ!" She cried, kneeling on the bed and shaking him to bring him out of whatever dream he'd been having.

Loki felt her hands on his shoulders, opening his eyes, he saw her kneeling over him and he grabbed her to him in a hug that crushed the air from her lungs. "Okay," She gasped, "Maybe it's time to tell me what you're dreaming about," She said, sitting back on the bed, reaching over and picking the baby up from the bassinet. "He's wet, here, hold him until I get a pad and a diaper." Loki looked down at his son then at Sarah. "I would feel so much better if you'd at least take an agent with you when you go to the apartment." Sarah spread the changing pad on the bed, took Fen from Loki, laid him down then started to take off his pajamas. "Did you forget that I'm an agent too? I'll be fine, what have I got to worry about or are you going to keep it to yourself?" Loki put his finger out for the baby to grasp which he did obligingly, "I think I might be over-worrying things a bit, wanting to keep you and the baby safe, preparing for the worst in my head." Sarah fastened the new diaper around Fen, then reached into the small diaper bag and pulled out a small one-piece outfit. "I'm going to give him a bath tonight when I get back so he'll be ready for the trip tomorrow, now why would you prepare for the worst? What classifies your idea of worst?"

She took Fen and opened her bathrobe, tickling his lips with her nipple until his mouth opened like a baby bird and found it, latching on. Loki watched them for a moment, reached over and stroked the slope of her breast with the back of his hand. "It is still a wonder to me." Sarah smiled at him, "What is?" Loki leaned over and kissed the top o Fen's head, "Him, you, us together here, after so long, finally having something like this to change my life." Loki looked up at her, "Sarah, he is my firstborn." Sarah didn't dare to return his gaze, so strong were her emotions that they threatened to overwhelm her. Loki lay back down in front of her lap, his finger still encircled by Fen's. She wished she could stop this moment in time and hide it away somewhere special, and in her heart, she did.

Pepper heard the townhouse elevator doors open and ran up the steps to hug Sarah as she set the baby carrier down. As she walked down the steps into the recessed living area, she heard a door open behind her and Stark's voice, "Ah here's the little godbaby…or baby god…tell me what exactly do you call it?" "She calls him Fen." Pepper retorted, "Come and see him, I'm sure you're safe." Pepper grinned at Sarah who was taking off Fen's too large snowsuit. "Would you like to hold him?" She asked Pepper, positioning Fen in her arms, supporting his head. She happened to glance at Tony who was staring at Pepper, drink halfway to his mouth, until he saw Sarah and threw the glass back, draining the contents. "So, no aliens bursting out of your chest or nothing like that huh? Just a normal birth, sounds like a good start, probably a good thing I didn't bet with you, Miss Potts."

Pepper glared at him then returned her attention to Fen, "How's the proud papa?" Sarah nodded, "He's okay, having bad dreams lately but other than that, he's proud." Tony came down the steps to sit on the couch next to Pepper. "So how do we look?" He said to Sarah, "Just trying it on for size…seems a little too tight for me…" He stood back up and bent over to Fen. "He sorta looks like you, don't he. Good thing." Sarah thought to herself that Tony seemed strangely at a loss for words, a newsworthy event if there ever were one. "We're going to get going over to Sarah's apartment, I'm going to watch the baby while she packs for the trip." Tony nodded, "Oh yeah, over the river and through the air to grandmother's house. Take lots of pictures." Tony walked back up to the wet bar, "Jarvis," he said, a voice like the room had answered him, "Yessir," "We need a car ready to take Miss Miller to her apartment." The voice replied, "Already waiting in the garage sir." Tony smiled, "That's why I keep him around."

The apartment seemed so empty when she unlocked the door and found no Mr. Whiskers there to greet her. She had asked Lizzie to care for until she came back. Pepper sat on the couch, watching Fen, asleep in his carrier. Tony had come along which had surprised both Pepper and Sarah and now he stood, looking around the apartment. "This place is so small, how do you manage like this?" He remarked, "It's only me and Fen, we don't need much space." She called out to him from her bedroom as she slid a rolling suitcase from under her bed, brushing off the dust. "Shows how much traveling I do," She murmured, then opened her dresser to start packing essentials. "How much is this place a month?" Tony called to her, "Nine hundred, the landlord is pretty fair, but I'm behind right now a little seeing as I'm on maternity leave." Tony turned to Pepper and mouthed, "Take care of that." Then, "Well I guess you're getting a steal here in Manhattan." Fen let out a squeak and Pepper called to Sarah who came out of the bedroom, suitcase rolling behind her, "He's voicing his opinion, take him out of that carrier if you want, he might be hot in there."

Sarah went into the baby's room and grabbed her large diaper bag, unsure how many days she would be in Asgard but opting to pack at least five outfits, they must have babies in Asgard, surely they would have what she needed there. She reached into the top drawer of the dresser and pulled out the rune stone, tucking it in one of the little inner pockets, it had helped her and Fen so far, she thought she might as well bring it.

When she finally walked out of Fen's bedroom, she found that Pepper had managed to coax Tony into holding Fen, a look of wonder likely rarely seen upon his face as he watched him rub his tiny hand against his face, his mouth open. "He eats like he's never full." Sarah said, sorry to break the spell. Tony looked up at her as if in a daze, then handed the baby to Pepper sitting beside him. "Well I hate to tell him, this wet bar is not open for business." He stood up from the couch, "Have you got everything?" Sarah nodded, "Are you sure?" She nodded again, thought about it, then asked him, "What else do I need?" Tony crossed his arms, "Well you're still an agent right? What about your revolver?" Pepper stared at Tony, "A weapon where she's going? Isn't that like bringing a pea shooter to a nuclear explosion? Besides maybe they'd think that was a hostile act on her part." Tony turned to Pepper, "I didn't say she had to bring it into battle, just as a precaution, like the boy scouts, be prepared?"

Sarah, meanwhile, had walked over to the stand by the door and opened the drawer, taking out the revolver she kept there, checked the safety, walked over to Fen's diaper bag, and slid it far beneath the clothes and diapers and wipes and blankets to rest at the bottom. "Good idea." Tony smiled, "Let's get going."

Loki wasn't in his quarters when she got back. She set the carrier down and took Fen out of it, undoing his snowsuit, picking him up and putting him against her shoulder, then walking back out into the corridor to look for him, glancing as she walked by, into lab 3 where she was delighted to find Doctor Banner who waved her into the lab. "Hello Sarah, I knew you were back but I didn't expect to see you." He walked over to her and peeked around her shoulder at Fen, sleeping, his mouth moving as he suckled in his dreams. "Oh he's beautiful," Banner smiled, and Sarah thought that it really lit up his face when it was genuine, "Thank you, Doctor, I think he is too, would you like to hold him?" Banner backed away a little and held up his hands, "No, I'll admire from afar. I'm not so sure how Loki would take to me holding his son." Sarah rubbed Fen's back, "Forgive me for asking but I couldn't help but hear that you're seeing that pretty girl from the party. Is everything going well with that?" Banner looked at the floor and she could see the color rise to his cheeks, "Yeah, I don't want to jinx it but it's actually going great, her name is Riley Scott, smartest woman I've ever met." Banner saw movement in the corridor and the door slid open. "Sarah, when did you get back?" Loki asked as he walked up behind her and kissed her shoulder. "Just now, I've only been talking to the doctor for two minutes," Banner gave Loki a small smile and Loki nodded in return. "Come, we're going to dinner tonight." Sarah waved to Banner and let Loki lead her out of the lab.

When they were in his quarters, Loki said, "Jane is making supper for us, you, me and Thor because he'll be gone for a few days. She's going to pick us up in an hour." Sarah nodded and put Fen in his bassinet then took Loki's hand in hers, "Just long enough for you to tell me what your dreams have been about." Loki squeezed her hand and shook his head. "I can only tell you that they involve my heritage." Sarah cocked her head to the side, "Asgard?" Loki stared at the floor, "Jotunheim, I have dreamed of it, of someone I don't know yet." Sarah put her hand to his chin and lifted his face to look at her, "Yet? Do you think you'll meet this person in the future?" Loki hesitated, then, "Yes, I think I will," here Loki forced a grin and said, "But it is not for you to worry. Let's get the baby ready to go before Fury thinks better of his decision."

Sarah lay in bed that evening, staring at the ceiling, listening to Loki's soft breathing, thinking of the trip to Asgard tomorrow and the conversation at the dinner table at Jane's apartment in Brooklyn. Thor had turned to Loki when Sarah had mentioned the bad dreams Loki had been having, "What sort of dreams, brother, portents?" Loki had shaken his head and tried to change the subject but Thor had persisted, "When we return to Asgard, you must consult the seer." Loki had glared at Thor but had not denied his statement. There had been tearful goodbyes with Jane from everyone, she'd even managed to give Loki a hug before they left. She had touched foreheads with Thor and he had spoken to her softly, telling her that he would come back here as soon as he could and then he had left to return to the office with them in preparation for tomorrow.

She held her breath, could hear Fen as he shifted position in the bassinet, then let it out, taken aback that she could suddenly see her breath in the air around her and she shivered, wondering if the temperature controls in the room were suddenly not working. She sat up in bed intending to check the gauge and was suddenly aware that there was someone in the room besides the three of them, she turned around, intending to wake Loki and her hand only met with empty sheets. She pivoted her legs out over the floor and stood up, heading to the living area to see if Loki had gotten up, seeing the baby safe in his bassinet, she entered the living room where the temperature seemed to have dipped considerably and she spun around to re-enter the bedroom wanting to grab her robe when she saw what had made the room so cold and found Loki as well.

The recessed light in the molding at the floor cast them mostly in shadow but she could see the person behind Loki was at least a foot taller than him. She felt a scream catch in her throat as the figure finally spoke, "You wish to know the dreams that plague the son of Laufey?" She thought of her revolver in the diaper bag in the bedroom behind her but was afraid to move, "Hold out your hand to her," The figure said to Loki and he raised his right hand out to her, she could see it shaking as she eased forward, trying to reach it, thinking to pull him to her, then the figure spoke again "Would it that it were so easy as that." She glanced up from Loki's hand and watched in mounting horror as the figure grabbed Loki's long hair from behind and pulled his head back. "No, please no," Sarah moaned, and the figure chuckled. "Would it that his suffering would end as swiftly," She heard a crackle and creaking as if someone had poured water on ice and she saw the glint of light as the figure raised his other hand and she could see a thin pointed sliver of ice, the ambient light glinting off it in which she could see Loki's face, his eyes now closed, his countenance grim and set. "The son of Laufey is of little consequence to me," The figure said and she could hear the mirth in his voice, "He is an abomination." The figure placed the dagger of ice against Loki's throat, yanking his hair again, pulling him hard against his chest, "The blood of Laufey is what I crave." And he drew the dagger across Loki's throat. Sarah screamed then, seeing the line of blood grow and begin to run down over the front of his t shirt as Loki convulsed forward slipping from the figure's grasp to kneel on the floor before him. "A fine position for the son of Laufey, kneeling" The figure reached down, grabbed Loki and brought the dagger hard against the back of his neck…

Sarah opened her eyes, momentarily unable to catch her breath as she flailed at the covers of the bed. She sat up, gasping and peered into the darkness of the bedroom, turned to her right and realized Loki wasn't in bed. Panic enveloped her as she threw the covers off her and stumbled into the living area, fully expecting to find his body on the floor by the door. She came through into the living room, hitting the light panel as she passed through and stopping dead, staring until she heard a voice behind her. "Sarah?" She turned to see Loki standing in the doorway, squinting slightly against the light, "What's wrong?" She ran to him and threw her arms around his neck. "Where did you go?" She cried, "To the bathroom, what, what's wrong?" He felt her violent trembling beneath his hands and pushed her from him till he was looking in her eyes, "You saw him didn't you." Sarah could barely nod, "It was real, I swear to god it was real." She closed her eyes, her bottom lip quivering, "You, that thing, killed you, made me watch.."

She put her hands over her mouth and bent over doubled, feeling like she was going to be sick. Loki pulled her up and guided her to the couch where he gathered her on his lap and sat rocking her, rubbing her back for long minutes until she said, "That's what you've been dreaming about?" she felt Loki nod, "I didn't want you to see what I have seen." She pushed away from him, gazing at his face, burning the image into her mind to replace the one currently on rewind in her head at the moment. "What was it, what was that thing?" Loki turned away from her, "He was a frost giant, from the realm called Jotunheim." Sarah turned his face back to hers, "You were born on Jotunheim." Loki could only nod. "But you're not like them." "But I am, Sarah, you've seen it. Remember that I told you the same thing I told Jane, mythology is but stories but there are always some truths intertwined." Sarah glanced towards the bedroom, "What about Fen?" Loki smiled sadly, "He's half human now isn't he?" She nodded and as if on cue, they heard a squeak from the bassinet and Sarah smiled back at Loki and rose from his lap to fetch the baby as Loki leaned back and looked up at the ceiling, never more eager to get home to Asgard in all his life as he was now.


	16. Chapter 16

Loki held the door open for Sarah as she stepped from the lower landing pad to the main pad at the roof of the building. The wind buffeted her violently and she turned away from the wind, putting her face against Loki's chest, wrapping her jacket tighter around Fen. Fury stood waiting for them, the wind whipping his black leather jacket like a war torn flag. Thor had set the two bags she had brought down on the pad between them and stood waiting for the word to be given. "You gotta know you guys look like some crazy ass lost tourists don't you." Fury yelled above the wind, looked around at the skyline, then nodded. Sarah glanced up at Loki, "Is it going to be as bad as that damn scepter?" who shook his head and pulled her in closer to him. "Heimdall!" Thor shouted grabbing the bags back up in his hands, "Open the Bifrost!"

Sarah watched above her as the clouds started to swirl like a tornado amidst which a blinding multicolored light was forming, dipping further until it enveloped them and she felt herself being pulled hard, only watching the skyline for a second as it dropped away almost immediately and she closed her eyes, a moment later, feeling solid floor beneath her feet as she stumbled a bit but caught herself and looked about her at an immense dome with silver and gold wrought work with a stepped platform in the middle of it and Heimdall taking his sword from a tall sheath built into the floor. She bowed to him as they walked away from the portal entrance. "I will look upon the child." His commanding voice stopped her in her tracks as the giant of a man stood and looked down at Fen who had awakened during the trip and seemed now to return Heimdall's gaze. Fen's mouth opened in a yawn and ended in a shudder. "He has a pure soul with the heart of a god. Welcome, Asgardian." He straightened up and returned to the platform where he resumed his stance standing sentinel at the portal.

Frigga was standing at the entrance to the living quarters when they came down the corridor, now brightly lit with braziers to ward off the cold winter air. "Oh, let me see him!" She cried, walking up to Sarah, who handed Fen over to her. "Oh Loki, he looks just like you when you were a baby." Just then Fen let a squeak and started to fuss a little. "Oh my goodness, you used to do the same thing." Frigga laughed, "Of course it was usually followed by hiccups." Loki looked at Sarah, "Come into our rooms, I have something special for you."

She followed him inside his room where more braziers stood burning brightly around a large bed carved with the standard that appeared on her necklace. He steered her to one side and then she saw it, a tall cradle made of a golden wood, polished till it reflected the firelight, the hood of the cradle was carved with vines and leaves that trailed down to wind over the sides and the curved legs at the bottom to the footboard. The interior of the hood above where Fen's head would lie, was carved as a tree trunk, branches reaching all around the hood, the bedding itself was pale blue and appeared to be silk with a miniature down coverlet atop it. "I'm no great hand at carving but I did design it and made sure only our top wood carver was ever to touch it, I did help him polish it though, helped me to work through my exile." "Loki," Sarah breathed, "It's an heirloom, it's almost too beautiful to use, I've never seen workmanship like this in my life." Loki smiled at his mother over Sarah's head, "Now do you see why I told you to leave the bassinet on Midgard?" Sarah slipped her hand into his and held it tight. Fen let out another squeak then started to cry. "Well it's either one or the other. I'll check and see if he's wet." Sarah said holding out her hands for the baby, "Oh please let me help you, it's been such a long time since we've had a baby to fuss over." Sarah glanced at Loki, who nodded and bowed as they brought Fen to the bed and Sarah began to unwrap him as Loki sat the diaper bag down on the floor beside her.

She undid the Velcro straps of the diaper and slid it out from under Fen while Frigga watched in amazement, "You don't use cloth nappies?" she mused. "No, I know people who do though, they have a service that comes and gets the diapers, washes them and brings them back…seems like a waste of money as much as this does." She set the dirty diaper on the floor where a servant was instantly there to pick it up, and she was soon fastening the new diaper on. "But if I run out while I'm here, I can bet there's no grocery store to buy them in. I might just try cloth yet." She knelt on the floor watching her son as his hands opened and closed, arms moving about, learning, building pathways in his brain and she was struck by how strong and deep she had bonded with him in only a week's time.

"We will have the welcoming tomorrow afternoon," Frigga said as she stroked Fen's brow, her eyes shining in the firelight. "You will want to get settled in, afterwards, please visit me in my chambers, my dear. I would love to talk with you." Sarah agreed that she would do so, Frigga bidding them goodbye as she left the room. Loki drew off the long sleeved shirt he'd been wearing. "If you don't mind, I'm going to get into some proper dress," He said as he crossed the room to a large wardrobe, pulling out a pair of breeches and a tunic, undoing his jeans and dropping them to the floor, stepping out of them, eliciting a wolf whistle from Sarah as she sat there on the bed, feeding Fen. "Methinks you doth tease me, M'lady." He said, amusement in his voice. "Now you're sounding like your brother," She laughed, looked down at Fen, Loki grinning at the thought, "Funny thing, I was more the scholar than him."

Sarah wiped a bit of milk from the corner of Fen's mouth, "But I wasn't teasing, you look quite fine." So fine, Sarah thought to herself, that she was entirely confused as to what he saw in her. Loki pulled on his breeches, walked to the bed, took her face between his palms and kissed her until they were both breathless, Fen starting to fuss as he lost his hold on her nipple. "Sorry, squeaks, mommy got carried away." Sarah said as she repositioned him to latch on. "So tell me how the ceremony goes." Loki sat on the bed beside her, "Well we will enter the throne room together," Sarah thought of the casual clothes she'd brought with her and wished she'd packed a nice dress, "Then you will stop at the bottom of the steps to the throne and I will take Fen up to Odin and Frigga to be marked and recognized." "Marked and recognized, what is that?" Sarah asked, "Odin will recognize him as a citizen of the realm of Asgard and present him to the court and when he is old enough, he will be able to summon the Bifrost like we do, then he will mark his shoulder with my standard."

Sarah's eyes went wide, "Like a tattoo?" Loki nodded but before Sarah could protest, said, "It will not hurt him, dearest heart. It will be but a small mark and will enable him to call on the Aesir for help should he ever need it." "And then," Sarah asked, "Then Odin will ask who also claims this child, then you will answer, I do, he will ask you your name, though he already knows it, don't go thinking he's gone off, you will tell him your name and he will call you up to be recognized as well." Sarah took a sleeping Fen from her breast, walked over and laid him in the cradle, caressing the wood for a moment before coming back to sit beside Loki. "And then?" "Of course we will have a celebration feast, we wouldn't want to disappoint Volstagg, the great glutton." Sarah curled her arm around his and sighed, "You know I'm afraid that I'm going to start liking it here." Loki put his hand over hers, "I'm counting on it."

Sarah had left Loki with Fen and was now following a servant girl to the Queen's chambers. Even if Frigga had been most accommodating, Sarah was still feeling nervous as she let the servant open the chamber doors to find Frigga sitting by an immense fireplace throwing heat and light throughout the room, knitting needles in her hand and a basket of yarn that looked to be fine mohair. She stuck the needles in the basket and rose from her chair. "Come my child, sit." She waved her hand to a chair beside hers and Sarah sat down. Frigga regained her seat as well and clapped her hands, sending two more servants to stand before them with a number of dresses over their arms. "I took the liberty of having a wardrobe made as a gift for you when I knew you were coming, Why don't you try on a few of the dresses, my dear? I would love to see how well my seamstresses have done their work. Sarah obliged hoping Fen wouldn't wake up and give Loki too much trouble.

After several gowns, each more beautiful than the next, she had found her favorite, a floor length tunic with a crossed bodice, floor length drapes at the arms, with a wide belt at the waist the gown a dark green that she imagined would smartly match Loki's court dress. She sat back down in the chair beside Frigga after she'd changed back to her own clothes, fingering the material of the green dress she held in her lap. After a short time, Frigga sighed, "Sarah, we had lost all hope for Loki a short time ago until he met you." Sarah stared into the fire, "I know about what he's done." Frigga picked up her needles again, "And yet you still allowed yourself to love him." Sarah glanced at Frigga, "I loved him before I knew, it's kind of hard to reverse it then.", though she had tried soon after he'd been sent back with no luck whatsoever. "He has allowed himself to love as well, perhaps this is what it has taken to bring him back from the brink of madness." Sarah stroked the silk gown beneath her fingers for a minute then stood up, "I've got to get back to my room and check on Fen, your majesty. Please forgive me." She bowed and was almost to the door, the servants following her with the other gowns, when Frigga spoke up, "He is a good boy, a little mischievous, mind you, but his heart lies with you, that will prove him in the end."

Sarah turned, smiled and continued to her chambers.

She found Loki asleep, Fen likewise on his chest and remembered Tony's jibe about taking a camera, now wishing she had. She lifted Fen from his chest and placed him in the cradle, undressed, slipped on a long dressing gown with a narrow rope tie about the waist, then crawled into bed beside Loki who moved his arm outward to pull her to him. She didn't sleep right away though, the dream keeping her awake, for fear of having another one and she watched the fires from the braziers, thinking of what tomorrow was going to be like until her eyes refused to do her bidding and closed until the first light of the sun streamed into the room.

She had just finished feeding Fen when Loki came out of the bathroom in his court dress, carrying the helmet by one horn. "Is he finished?" He asked, walking across the room past the braziers to the outer railing where she could see his breath frosty in the cold air and she looked away, pushing the dream from her mind. She set Fen down on the bed and took the little gown that Frigga had sent to the room for Fen to wear, all Sarah could think of was a christening gown though she supposed this was sort of what it was. "I'm just getting him dressed." She had given him a bath that morning in a silver basin in the bathroom, after his first feeding, Loki standing beside her, helping to hold him upright and still as he cried in anger at being treated in such a way.

Loki looked into the room at Sarah, as she wrapped the baby in a white blanket and lifted him to her shoulder to pat his back and decided against telling her about his latest dream last night, and the reason he was so tense. He walked into the room again and separated the helmet, putting it together on his head, then offered a grinning Sarah his arm, stopping when he saw her expression, "What?" She took his arm and said, "Nothing, I told you, I love a man in uniform."

They stood in the darkness at the end of the throne room waiting for Odin to take his seat on the throne. Fen had started to wiggle a little but seemed to be simply testing his reflexes, cooing and squeaking as Sarah bounced him gently in her arms. Loki put a hand to his back and rubbed, eliciting a burp, Sarah wiping his mouth with a small cloth she'd tucked behind her belt as she tried to still the butterflies in her stomach. A small tap at her elbow from Loki made her jump and then she was walking beside him up the middle of the room, people bowing on both sides as they passed until they'd reached the bottom of the stairs and Odin stood, striking his staff against the floor, the sound ringing through the room. Loki turned to Sarah and took Fen from her arms, then proceeded up the stairs to where Odin stood. "Allfather, I present to you to be recognized, my son, Fenris Daniel Laufeyson." Loki held Fen up to Odin, Fen seeming to return the gaze of this great man with tears glittering in his eyes. "Fenris Daniel, son of my son, I recognize you as a citizen of Asgard and as such I grant you the power to call upon the Bifrost to bring you to this realm at any time you see fit." He placed a hand on Fen's forehead, "And I mark you with the standard of Loki," Loki had pulled the gown from Fen's shoulder and Odin now touched it lightly with his fingers, Loki watching the two intertwined snakes appear, blood red against Fen's skin, then fade until they were no longer visible.

Sarah had been standing at the bottom of the steps, feeling all eyes on her as she waited and suddenly she heard Odin, "Who also claims this child?" Sarah looked up at the dais, almost forgetting what to do until she saw Loki smile at her, "I do" Odin nodded, "What is your name?" "Sarah Ann Miller" she replied and started up the steps as Odin motioned for her, stopping beside Loki. "Sarah Ann Miller, mother of Fenris," Odin put a hand on her shoulder, "I proclaim you a citizen of Asgard by right of lineage." At this. Odin leaned in to her, "I ask you to teach him well both worlds for he will have a place in each one. He is truly blessed." "I will" Sarah said softly and Odin smiled. Loki took her elbow with his free hand and turned her towards the people lining the room, then placing Fen in her arms. "What I have marked and recognized, may never be undone by another." Odin's voice thundered through the hall as the crowd murmured, "Your will be done, Allfather." And Loki was leading her down the steps to a line of people at the bottom, some of who she knew and she stopped at the first person, Thor, who smiled at Loki, put his hand upon Fen's head and said, "I wish upon you power and a gentle heart with which to wield it," Next to Thor stood Volstagg, who touched Fen's head gently, "I wish upon you strength," Here he looked at Loki, "And a better appetite than your father." Sarah tried to suppress a grin as she moved down the line to Fandral, "I wish upon you to be fair of face and strong to defeat your enemies." Next in line was Sif and Sarah shrank back a bit under her glare which abruptly changed as she touched the baby's brow, to a warm gaze, "I wish upon you goodness and honesty." She cast a glance at Loki and looked away, Sarah moving to Hogun, a short, fierce looking man, "I wish upon you wisdom, and great knowledge." And on she went down the line of warriors until they were at the end and they turned to await Odin's command to proceed to the great hall which he summarily gave, everyone milling around them, people touching Fen, blessing him, congratulating Loki.

She had at first been a little shy of feeding Fen at the feast table but Sif, hearing her protest to Loki, stood up and walked over to her, picking up the baby and standing before her, "Take it out, come on, the little warrior is hungry." Sarah pulled the side of her dress to release her breast and Sif laid him in her arms, knelt by the side of her chair and gave her perhaps the warmest words she'd heard from her, "Never be afraid Sarah, even if you are inside, never let anyone know it. It will be your greatest strength when you need it." And she stood, striding back to her seat, retrieving her goblet of mead. "Is she always angry?" Sarah whispered to Loki who looked down the table at Sif, catching her eye and grinning against her glare, "Um, yeah she is, or has been for as long as I've known her." Frigga caught her eye at the end of the table after a while and motioned to her to come sit beside her. She took Fen from Loki's arms, knowing Frigga wished to see him as well and sat down beside her. "He's asleep, I'm afraid, All the excitement is too much for him." Frigga stroked his tiny hand with a finger, "I would be asleep too." Then to Sarah, "You did wonderfully tonight, Loki should be proud of you. I know he is," Frigga could see Loki down the table staring at Sarah, excluding all else from his gaze. "You should get the little warrior to bed. It's been a long day for you." Sarah nodded and yawned. "Indeed it has, thank you, your majesty." Frigga put her hand on Sarah's arm, "That's for the court, please call me mother." Sarah smiled, stood and bowed then walked to where Loki was sitting. "I'm going to retire for the evening." Loki rose from his chair and bowed to Frigga, who nodded in return, "Shall we, then?"

She changed Fen for bed and put him in the cradle, rocking it gently with her foot. She had changed as well, folding the beautiful dress and placing it in the wardrobe, replacing it with the dressing gown, tying the thin rope loosely around her. Loki had long since gotten into bed and was lying on his side, eyes closed. She sat there for a minute studying his profile, the regal slope of his nose, the arch of his brow, the high fine cheekbones she'd so admired, the curve of his jaw, and suddenly he was smiling, "Why are you staring at me?" He opened his eyes and looked up at Sarah. "I was admiring, not staring," she raised the covers and slid beneath them shivering even though the braziers had been built up to warm the room. She laid on her side facing away from him, luxuriating in the heavy feel of the comforter. Loki reached for her and pulled her to him, his arm draped around her waist until she heard him whisper in her ear, "I long to swell your belly again, Sarah." She could feel him, hard between her thighs, his hand stealing under her nightdress to cup her breast and she pushed back against him, eliciting a shuddering breath in her ear, nearly driving all reason from her, she felt him shift position, his hand drifting down between her legs, pressing her harder to him, kissing her shoulder, the back of her neck, her earlobe, whispering "I hunger for you."

She was starting to perspire under the heavy covers now and she threw off the top comforter, now arching back against him, trying to afford him entry even though she knew they should be waiting, it being so soon after the baby, but she moved to accept him, surrendering as he put an arm around her waist and slid inside her, his arm now crossed between her breasts as he held her to him, murmuring against her back, words of love. She lifted her leg and draped it backwards over his, feeling his heartbeat wild against her back as he began to move within her. "So long," he said, his voice low and hoarse with desire, "So long I've waited to be with you again." She arched forward, letting him in further, feeling his fingers press into her hips as he moved her, took her, she reaching down to cover his hand with hers, his breath coming in short harsh gasps as he pulled her back to his chest, his hips bucking against her in slow gentle thrusts, her breath matching his until his movements became more insistent, his hands around her shoulders, his muscles quivering with the effort, she glanced back at him and he rose from the bed to steal a kiss, sweet and passionate as he stiffened in release, finally drowning his cry of ecstasy against her back, holding her for a long time after his heart had slowed, only withdrawing from her when they heard Fen shift in the cradle with a sigh. After a long while, Sarah whispered, "It's kind of a bad idea to do it so soon after you've had a baby, it tends to make other babies." She felt him kiss the back of her neck and she shivered, letting herself be pulled into his arms. "I love you, Sarah," He whispered and was soon asleep. She stayed awake a bit longer, listening to his slow even breathing, staring once again at the braziers around her, glowing…

Fen's squeak woke her up but the braziers had burnt down so low that the cold was starting to creep in to the room. She sat up, turning to look at Loki who had turned away from her, facing into the room. She put her feet on the floor and winced at the cold, picking Fen up from the cradle and walking towards the brazier that was glowing the brightest, grabbing the diaper bag on the way. "I'm going to have to ask the servants to get those braziers going again." She whispered to herself as she felt Fen's diaper to see if it was wet and reaching into the bag for a diaper when the brazier before her dwindled and died suddenly and all she had to see by were glowing coals and starshine. She looked onto the portico, a sudden movement catching her eye, and she reached deep into the diaper bag, putting her fingers against the barrel of the revolver and drawing it into her hands. Fen let out another squeak. The light changed on the portico until it was alit with blue flame. Sarah shoved the revolver into the belt tied at her waist and stood up with Fen in her arms as the same figure she'd seen in Loki's quarters stepped onto the marble floor holding the scariest thing she'd ever seen in her life, the scepter.

She turned to Loki who hadn't moved and was about to shout his name when the figure spoke. "It is time for retribution." The figure chuckled, "And lest you think this is another dream, I would gladly show you otherwise." The figure held up the scepter and pointed it straight at Loki, the blue cube at the end glowing and pulsing, Sarah trying to will him to waken. "How can you be using the scepter?" Sarah whispered in disbelief, "The Tesseract and the scepter are one and the same. Those that held it were ignorant of its workings." The figure stepped closer to her and held out his hand. "You will come with me now," It growled and Sarah made to lay Fen back in his cradle, "No, the child comes with you." Sarah shook her head, the blue glow increasing as he stepped towards her, "Please, no" and finally the figure had his fingers around her wrist, she felt searing pain like dry ice against her skin and felt the all too familiar wrenching tug of the scepter as the blue light enveloped her and Fen and the room disappeared before her eyes.


	17. Chapter 17

The fading sound of laughter in his ear brought Loki from sleep and he raised himself up on one elbow, turning onto his back to see if Sarah was awake. He patted the bed beside him and not finding her there, opened his eyes to a room nearly dark, cold as the breeze from the portico drifted in. He sat up and peered around the room, annoyed, the servants had let the braziers die down in the middle of winter. He swung his legs out over the edge of the bed, grabbing his breeches from a chair and pulling them on as he walked to the doors of his chamber and opened them.

Seeing no one in the corridor, he turned to the room and said aloud, "Sarah." heading over to the cradle, glancing at the door to the bathroom as he went, slowing as he walked, when he saw the light from the lamp by the basin burning and the door open. He walked to the bathroom and opened the door wider. "Sarah?" as he walked to the cradle, his concern began to mount, peaking when he saw it was empty. "Sarah!" Loki said, a bit louder, walking out into the corridor, looking up and down the hallway until he spied a servant walking the hall, "Have you seen the Lady Sarah and my son?" He asked the young man, "No sire, I haven't seen them. Are they not with you?" Loki didn't answer him but said, "The braziers in our room have died, see to it they're rekindled." The servant bowed and entered the room as Loki walked down the torchlit corridor, thinking where she could have gone with Fen. Abruptly, he came to a full stop as the laughter echoed once again in his memory and then he began to run.

Sarah stumbled, panting, holding tight to Fen who had started to cry as the scepter dropped them to the ground and immediately her feet began to sting. She looked about her at a dark, barren, frozen landscape, snow softly falling from the dark grey sky. "How do you like your new home?" She heard the voice from behind her and turned, nearly stumbling as her feet continued to turn numb in the layer of snow beneath her. The frost giant towered above her, she could clearly see the red of his eyes in the low light that seemed to infuse their surroundings. "I'm so cold, please I need to keep the baby warm." She pleaded but the giant chuckled, "We have already prepared a room for you." He gestured for her to follow him and she tried to but stumbled and went to her knees hard, clutching Fen as her elbows landed in the snow. "Carry her," the giant said, and she turned to see another giant striding up to her, taking her arm and lifting her up from the ground. "We have much to prepare for,"

Loki hit the doors to Thor's room at a dead run, shoving them open. As he reached the bed, he threw the covers from him, receiving a groan in response." Thor, wake up!" Loki shouted as Thor reached behind him and drew the covers back up only to have Loki pull them down again, "Sarah and the baby are gone!" Thor rolled over and sat up, "Gone, where, back to Earth?" Loki was pulling him from the bed, "No, no, come on." Thor stood up from the bed and stretched, Loki was handing him his breeches, "Remember, the dreams I had?" Thor nodded, and took the tunic Loki was shoving at him, "I know where she is.." and realization suddenly flooded him, "And I know how it happened." We have to wake father, she's been taken to Jotunheim." Thor had started after his brother and suddenly stopped, "Are you sure, brother, it is a serious accusation?" Loki looked back at Thor, "I'm sure, come on."

Odin listened to Loki as he explained what had happened, Frigga standing behind him, her hand to her mouth in horror. "I don't know how it came to him, but I believe Menyir has the scepter. We have to go, father." Odin looked to Thor, "How say you, Thor?" An incredulous look crossed Loki's face, "What is there to say? Sarah is a human woman, she will freeze to death there while we stand making decisions." He whirled around and started from Odin's bedchamber, "I'm going, regardless." Thor glanced at Odin, "Brother, wait for me."

Sarah was set roughly on the floor of the cave where she knelt, hunched over, clutching Fen to her chest, shivering, Fen's cries long since fading to intermittent squeaks as she rocked him, her own tears having ceased, replaced by rage and increasing fear as she felt the extreme cold start to work on her body. She looked up at the frost giant standing at the entrance to the cave as he waved his hand from the top of the entrance to the bottom, bars of ice forming as his hand passed, then again from side to side, more bars forming a crisscross pattern, the blue light glinting off them and she shivered violently, trying to crawl farther from them and the frost giant on the other side who walked up to the bars, caressing them like a favored pet. "I am Menyir, ruler of Jotunheim, son of Laufey." Sarah turned and stared through the bars at him, his red eyes narrowed as she studied him, "You do not believe? Is there another son you know of?" Menyir laughed deep in his throat, "I believe you know him full well. That is why you are here. The child you hold will become one of us, retribution will be complete." Sarah clenched her fists against Fen's back, "Fuck you." Menyir grabbed the bars and growled, "Do you know your beloved's destiny? That he is fated to bring about Ragnarok, the end of all worlds? It is inevitable, written in the stars eons before even your ancestors saw the light of day." Sarah glared back at him with only one word for him, "Stories." Menyir's grip relaxed on the bars and he chuckled again, "Stories," he smiled, "Then there will be nothing to stop me from running him through when I meet him." Fen let out a squeak then and Menyir backed away from the bars. "Take care of him, he will need his strength." As he faded into the steely darkness, Sarah's tears began anew, running down the slope of her nose to the stone floor beneath her, sobbing and rocking Fen as he began to wail.

The horse bucked beneath Loki as they settled onto the snow covered ground of Jotunheim, he pulling hard on the reins and squeezing the horse's sides with his legs. To his right, Odin and Thor sat on their own steeds, contingents of warriors lined up behind them. Odin looked to Loki, then to Thor and dismounted from his horse, striking the ground with his staff, sending the sound ringing through the chill air as Thor and Loki jumped down from their horses to join him. "Father," Loki began but Odin held up his hand as from the blue black depths before them emerged a frost giant, plate armor covering his chest, arms and legs. "I am Menyir, ruler of Jotunheim, you have no purpose here. Return to Asgard or face death." Loki made to move towards Menyir but Odin put a hand on his shoulder, "Return the Midgardian woman Sarah and her child." Menyir put his hands out and spread them wide, "You took a son of Laufey, I have returned the favor."

Odin could feel Loki move beneath his hand and he squeezed, "He was left to die in the temple." Menyir laughed at this, "As he should have, he was and remains an abomination. The child will serve as my own just as he has served as yours. An even exchange, poor at best." Finally Loki could hold back no longer and he roared, "I will see your skull split in two by my own sword, I will string your entrails to the nine realms!" Menyir stepped forward, a sneer on his face, "How will you have time for me when time is running out for the human woman?" Loki had drawn his sword and held it in his hands at the ready when the ground around them began to thunder with the approach of Menyir's troops. "To arms!" Odin shouted, as they moved forward, the very air cracking as they came together in a great collision of metal, ice, armor and skin. Loki swinging his sword high above his head, bringing it across the chest of a giant before him, opening him to the sky, pushing forward into the fray, grabbing the plate metal of another and running his sword through him, dodging the icy spikes of one giant beside him and bringing his elbow up to connect with its jaw, dropping it to the ground.

He could hear Thor shouting epithets and the thud of Molinjr as it flew through the lines striking down giant after giant and was turning to fight his way towards Thor when a scene came unbidden to his mind and he could see a cave, bars of ice, Sarah lying on her side, Fen cradled in her arms, the scene widening higher until he could see the path from the battle as clear as if lit by fire and suddenly Thor was beside him, "I know where she is," He shouted, putting his hand on Thor's arm and disappeared into the melee behind him, dodging the warriors pushing forward into the heat of battle until he was clear of them and running towards the pillars rising high above him.

Sarah had finally lain down on her side, Fen having long grown silent though she could feel his even breathing against her arms, giving a silent prayer of thanks for his heritage. The pain in her legs and feet had subsided gradually, the frigid air caressing her hair as the wind began to whip outside the cave. She was so tired, she knew she would soon be asleep as the struggle to keep her eyes open, trained on her baby was quickly waning. She had kissed Fen on the forehead and pulled him closer to her, closing her eyes, seeing Loki in her mind the day she'd met him, the night they'd conceived Fen, Loki presenting him to Odin, watching her as she walked from the crowd to meet Odin, the images starting to fade..

Loki could see the cave at the bottom of the rise he had crested, the bars of ice across the entrance and he half slid, half jumped down the slope, his sword at the ready, heaving it back and coming across the bars with a jarring crack, Loki bracing for another swing, calling into the darkness, "THOR!"

Thor turned his head to the side, it was unmistakable, his name born on the wind, his brother's voice. He took one more swing with his hammer at the two giants at his chest and pivoted, heading towards the rear of the battle.

Sarah opened her eyes, tried to raise her head, couldn't, tried again and managed to look towards the bars where the sound had seemed to come from and heard it again.

Another blow to the bars was enough to shatter them to one side as Loki slid inside of the cave and dropped beside Sarah. "Dear Odin," He whispered, "Sarah?"

Sarah heard her name, opened her eyes and looked up into eyes the color of the sea. She raised her head and looked at Fen who let out a squeak then back at Loki who was standing up, unhooking his cloak from his armor. "No horns?" She said in a weak whisper as she felt the cloak cover her and Fen and arms slide beneath her as Loki lifted them up, "Battle helmet, now hush." He said as he sidled back through the bars and started from the cave, going only a few steps before the roar made him turn to see the dagger of ice heading for him and he turned his back to it, attempting to shelter Sarah and Fen still in his arms and he felt the dagger hit him, driving through his right shoulder, through leather, tissue, muscle, bone, the point exiting just under his collarbone causing him to stagger forward, losing the grip with his right arm, setting Sarah down with the baby roughly on the ground as he turned to face the giant trotting towards him, another dagger raised in his hand..

Sarah hit her hip against the hard ground, wincing at the sharp pain of something round beneath her, nearly losing her grip on Fen who had begun to cry again at the hard jostle he'd received. Sarah looked towards Loki to see the giant bearing down on him, finally hitting him hard, driving him to the ground feet from her, hard enough to split the helmet and send it rattling to the ground beside him, she could see the dagger in his shoulder push farther forward through the leather as he reached up with his left hand to grip the hand descending at him, dagger in its fist, the words from what seemed like ages ago, of Odin resounding in her head, "We are not immortal, we can still be killed" and she reached beneath her with a trembling hand to pull the revolver from where it had become untangled from her belt, laid Fen on Loki's cloak, came to her knees and took aim at the image from hell poised over him...

Loki could see the dagger getting closer to his throat as he tried to buck the giant from him, knowing that after he'd finished with him, Sarah would be easy prey, the thought no sooner finished when three shots rang out over the shriek of the wind, striking the giant in the chest once and the arm twice, causing him to lose his balance and train his sights on the woman who'd delivered such pain to him and he rose from Loki, starting towards Sarah…

Sarah kept pulling the trigger, hoping for just one more bullet in the chamber only hesitating a moment trying to will her legs to work, before she began to crawl away from Fen, drawing the giant away from the baby who lay there wailing. She could feel the ground thunder with each step until he was upon her, holding her to the ground, dagger raised, "You will sleep in hell tonight," It growled, raising the dagger…

Loki rolled over and staggered to his feet, found them and started to run, teeth bared in rage, towards the giant that was fast approaching Sarah, he watching as the giant knelt over her, his hand raised above his head and Loki threw himself forward onto the giant's back…

Sarah saw the giant stumble and she tried to backpedal out of the way.

Loki reached forward around the giant's neck with his left hand and pressing his damaged shoulder to the giant's back for support, pulled the giant's chin to the side with all his might, hearing the vertebrae give way, feeling the body go limp and shudder as they both spilled to the ground in front of Sarah.

Sarah could hear footsteps thudding the ground and started to scramble back to Fen to protect him, not wanting to see the giant coming towards them. She grabbed the cloak, pulling it to her as the footsteps stopped and she heard Thor's voice, "Brother, we must get you to the healers," Then she was being helped to feet that would not obey her as she sat back down on the cloak, scooping Fen into her arms, "Sarah, we have to go." Thor's arms lifting her from the cold ground with Fen still wailing.

Loki kissed Sarah's cheek, "Bring them back to Asgard, I will follow after I have done what I promised to do." He said, wincing as he pulled the remaining sliver of ice through the wound and dropping the melting sliver to the ground. "No, brother, you are hurt, you would be no match for Menyir."

Sarah, upon hearing the name, said weakly "Loki, no, please come with us" Loki looked at Sarah and Fen in Thor's arms, then to the hill over which lay the battle, and nodded as Thor roared, "Heimdall, Open the Bifrost!"

Odin glanced to his left to see the Bifrost descend only for a moment, finally taking his boot and pushing the still form of Menyir from his staff, spitting on the ground beside him. He then removed his cloak and walked to the small arch in which sat the scepter and wrapped his cloak about it, holding it to him, finally calling to Heimdall, watching as the Bifrost started to pull the warriors back to Asgard, only allowing himself to leave when the last warrior had disappeared in the blinding flash of rainbow colored light.


	18. Chapter 18

Loki sat up from the healer's table, shirtless, his shoulder bandaged. He stepped off onto the floor and crossed the room to a row of small beds whereupon one of them lay Sarah, deep asleep. A servant walked up to him with a fresh tunic in hand which he took and shrugged on gingerly, feeling the stitches the healer had given him, pull, the pain sharp.

He sat on the side of Sarah's bed and watched her for a moment until one of the healers came to him and said quietly, "She needs to rest, sire." Loki turned to the healer and glared at him, "I will not wake her, I wish to be near her." A small cooing behind him made him look around to see Fen in the arms of a wet nurse and he held out his arms, she placing Fen in them but hovering as if Loki would drop him at any minute. "He is doing well, sire." The wet nurse said, Loki nodding and placing a kiss on his forehead, handed him back to her, he then put his hand on Sarah's arm and rubbed it gently, his face a mask of seriousness, staying there some minutes until a servant came running into the rooms and up to Loki. "The Allfather has summoned you."

Loki found Odin in the reliquary, still in his battle armor, helmet set aside on the steps into the small room. Loki's eyes found the Tesseract at the end of the hall as he walked down the steps to where Odin was standing.

"How is Sarah?" Odin asked him as he reached the bottom. Loki stared at the tiles in the floor until they started to blur, swallowed hard, "She is recovering." Odin nodded, "Father, we must return to Jotunheim as soon as possible, I made a promise to Menyir and I am eager to keep it.." Odin interrupted him, "Menyir is dead." Loki looked at Odin in disbelief, struggling to maintain his composure, "How?" "Run through by my own staff." As he said this, Odin gazed up at the trident atop the staff in his hand, dull with dried blood. "You must let go of what has darkened you heart."

Loki forced his hands to remain limp at his sides, "I cannot," Odin struck his staff on the floor, the sound loud in the small room, "You must, or what you have fought so hard to save, will be lost to you." The more Loki thought of Jotunheim, the harder it became to keep still, and he answered Odin, his voice hoarse, "I don't know that I can stop what has started."

Odin bent down and picked up his cloak that he had set at his feet, "There is only one way to know," Odin opened the cloak to reveal the scepter lying within the folds, "You know what you must do and what you could do, the choice is yours." Odin laid the cloak wrapped scepter in Loki's hands. He could feel the vibrations of power running through it as the scepter sat in his hands once again. He looked up to see Odin slowly climbing the steps towards the door to the reliquary and he looked back down at the scepter. As he listened to the doors close behind Odin, he whispered "You were wrong father, I am indeed cursed."

Loki had nearly reached the door to his chambers when he was met by Thor, disheveled and still in his battle armor as well.

"We have been victorious, brother!" Thor clapped him on the back, Loki gasping and shoving him backwards, "My shoulder hurts!" he hissed, opened the door and stepped inside, Thor following him. "What have you in the cloak?" Loki glanced at Thor, "Something Father gave me." "Might I see it?" Thor asked, reaching for the covered scepter that Loki had placed on the bed. "Don't touch it," Loki growled, causing Thor to stop in mid reach. "Loki, what troubles you? We have saved Sarah and Fen, beaten the frost giants into submission, destroyed Menyir." Loki whirled around to him, "No, Father destroyed him, were I there, It would have been my duty, my pleasure, to have killed him for his actions!" Thor put a hand on Loki's left shoulder, careful to avoid the right one, "What does it matter how it came about, you were busy rescuing Sarah and the baby which you had every right to do. Would you have seen them perish so that you could avenge yourself upon Menyir?" Loki stood there trembling, unable to answer for a moment, "I know that you love Sarah and Fen. Now you must hold on to that like a light in the darkness, brother." Thor said, then quietly walked out of the room.

Sarah opened her eyes to soft torchlight and warm sheets. She sat up slowly, feeling the ache in her legs and feet as the muscles stretched and readjusted, and looked around. One of the healers, a young man, saw her sit up and came over to the bed. "How do you feel?" Sarah stretched her arms upwards, twisted the kinks from her back, "Like I want my son, where is Fen?" The healer smiled at her, turned and said, "Sigurd? Bring the little prince to his mother. Sigurd is a wet nurse." A large boned, rosy-cheeked blond woman of middling age appeared out of the shadows with a sleeping Fen in her arms. "He's been good as gold while you were asleep. He suckles well too, he will grow quickly." She laid Fen in Sarah's arms, Sarah lifting him up to kiss the bridge of his nose. "Thank you for taking care of him, how long was I out?" The young healer said, "A day, the healing is easier when you're asleep." Sarah nodded, "I remember." ,then a sudden awful thought occurred to her, "Where's Loki?" The healer smiled again, "He was summoned to speak with the Allfather." Sarah sighed deeply, "He's alright then." The healer nodded, "We made sure of it, M'lady." The sound of a door opening across the room made her look behind the healer and she saw Loki walking towards the bed.

The healer moved away as Loki bent forward to Sarah and kissed her, then sat down on the edge of the bed and smiled at her, Sarah noting that the smile didn't extend to his eyes which remained fixed, and cold for a second before he looked down at Fen and his countenance softened, leaving Sarah with the feeling that she had been looking into the eyes of the man she had watched on the cd in what seemed like so many ages ago. Loki put his index finger into Fen's tiny grasping hand, watching him.

After a couple of quiet minutes, Sarah put her hand to Loki's face and drew it upward, "Loki, stay here with me," his eyes narrowed, and he sat back, "Where would I go?" Sarah sighed "I don't know, off I guess," The baby started to fuss just then and Sarah moved the bodice of her gown to reveal her breast which she gave to Fen, with a loving smile, then she glanced back up at Loki, "You're not yourself, in fact you seem closer to the other.." She stopped short and closed her eyes until she felt Loki grip her arm, "Closer to what?" Sarah kept her gaze trained on Fen, "The other side of the coin, you mean? The side you've seen on video but never actually experienced?" His grip became tighter. "I would burn for you Sarah, for him, but I find my rage outstripping my passion. I would finish what I started in Jotunheim but for my father and now I find nowhere to spend my anger." He stood up abruptly from the bed and turned to walk from the room, his own bitterness startling him, nearly reaching the door before he heard Sarah, "And do you think I would do any less for you?" Loki stopped, facing the door, "I followed you to a place I didn't believe was real, let you into my heart where no one has been for many years, gave you a son, trusted you, believed in you when no one else would, and still do, mind you." Loki turned his head, she could see his profile lit by firelight, "Did you ever think that perhaps your trust was misplaced?" Sarah paused for a minute, "No, I was too much in love by then." Loki turned away, opened the doors and walked out into the corridor, "Loki." Sarah said too softly for him to hear, then looked down at Fen, trying to keep her thoughts from straying to Earth

Loki pulled first one boot on, then the other, as he sat on his bed, stood, grabbed his heavy leather coat, fastened it to the neck, turned and picked up the scepter, still wrapped in the cloak, and walked from the room.

He dismounted from the horse in front of the portal, turning back to look at the skyline of Asgard, the palace rising above it, bright in the night sky. Then he proceeded into the dome where Heimdall stood, staring at him, "Shall I open the portal to Midgard?" Heimdall asked Loki as he approached. "Yes Heimdall, please." Heimdall nodded, "A wise choice." And slid the sword into its metal sheath.

The intercom in Fury's office beeped and he looked at it, "Yes?" "Sir," a voice replied, "We have a visitor in the secondary landing pad." Fury stood up from his chair. "Thor?" "No, it's Loki." Fury was at the door, "Alone?" upon a reply in the affirmative, Fury said, "I want two agents to me, I'm going up."

Loki stood in the landing pad, hands curled tightly around the scepter which hummed as if it could feel the hands mere inches from it. Fury, opened the interior door and stepped into the landing bay followed by two agents with guns drawn but held at the ready. "What brings you here tonight?" Fury asked him, eyeing the cloak Loki held in front of him. "I have something that I believe you want, Director." Fury stepped up to him, touched the cloak, feeling the familiar edge of the scepter, turned and walked back to the elevator, motioning to Loki to follow along with the agents.

As the elevator sped down to sub-level 6, Fury gazed sidelong at Loki, "How's the family?" Loki looked at him, looked back at the numbers dropping in the panel, "Sarah is fine, she calls Fen, Squeaks." Fury glanced at Loki who wore a smirk on his face and shook his head.

The doors to sub-level 6 slid open and they walked towards the holding tank to find Doctor Banner standing at the edge with a pad, looking into the tank when he heard the footsteps behind him and whirled around to see Fury walking towards him, "Director, I'm glad you're here, we just got a massive spike on the energy signature of the scepter and…Loki?" Loki walked up to Banner and held out the cloak, "I need a place to put this." Banner backed away from it. "Um, you hold it, okay? Follow me."

Fury watched as, a minute later, Loki was setting the scepter into the clear box at the bottom of the three story tank. Fury shook his head again, and went to the elevator to wait for Loki to return topside. When Loki stepped from the elevator, Fury walked up to him, "Now what?" Loki put his hands together and gave a slight grin, "I return home. I've done what I came to do." Fury nodded and held his hand towards the open elevator.

They stood at the top landing pad, Loki looking out over the lights of the city. "Why did you bring the scepter back?" Fury asked him as he walked to the center of the pad, to which Loki turned and said, "You're welcome," Fury crossed his arms, "I don't thank anyone unless I understand their motives, and maybe not even then." Loki looked up at the night sky, "Redemption, then," He peered at Fury, "Am I absolved?" Fury shook his head, "No, but it's a start." Loki gave him a wry smile, and shouted, "Heimdall, Open the Bifrost!"

Sarah was asleep in their chambers when he arrived back in Asgard, having insisted that she was well enough to be without the healer's care. Loki stood gazing at her as the braziers spilled warm light on her sleeping form, reached over and rocked the cradle where Fen lay fast asleep, and he smiled as Fen's chin quivered, suckling in his sleep. He cast his clothes over the chair by the wardrobe and slid into bed beside her, pulling her close to him, his arm draped over her stomach, she smiling and putting her arm over his, they stayed in that position until first morning light the next day.

Loki opened his eyes to Sarah talking to Fen as he suckled, and he put a hand to her thigh, rubbing it gently. "I'm sorry, I didn't wake you up did I?" Loki rolled over on his back and stared up at the high ceiling, "No you didn't," She stroked Fen's head, murmuring softly to him, then turned to Loki. "I have to go back home," She met his stare for a moment but then looked away, "We've talked about this before. I have to go back." Loki raised himself on his elbows, "But why?" Sarah sighed, wiped Fen's mouth and picked him up to her shoulder to burp him, "I have a job back there, an apartment, friends, a family who wants to see Fen and I have some big decisions to make."

She felt Loki lay back down on the bed, she could see that he had laid his arm across his eyes. "When?" "Today," Sarah answered and jumped as Loki sprang from the bed and walked to his wardrobe, whipping out a pair of breeches, shoving them on. "We've had just over a week together, why must you go now?" He exclaimed, walking back over to the bed, staring down at her. "Because if I stay any longer, I won't want to go back!" She cried in response, "And you're so eager to do so now?" he shouted, walked past the braziers to the portico planting his hands on the railing to stare out across the city, "Loki, I love you, but the world doesn't stop spinning because you wish it. You can't just erase an entire life." She could see Loki's head drop down. "How long?" Sarah stood from the bed and placed Fen in his cradle, then walked out onto the portico to stand beside Loki, "I don't know, maybe a week?" Loki slapped his hands on the railing, "A week? Dear god." Sarah put her hand to his shoulder and felt him stiffen until she slid her arms around his waist and laid her head against his back, feeling his shoulders drop in resignation. "Promise me," She heard him say, as he turned around to wrap her in his arms, "A week, and no more? Let me have as much time with you as I can before the spell is broken again." She looked up into his eyes and was overjoyed to see the man she'd fallen in love with was once again looking back at her. "Promise." She said, and they stood there at the railing locked in each other's arms for a long time until she backed away from him, then started to get Fen and herself ready for the trip home, Loki walking out of the chamber to avoid watching her as she packed.


	19. Chapter 19

Sarah opened the door to her apartment and walked inside, the silence deafening as she set Fen's carrier and her bags down in front of the couch, walked over to the fridge and opened it, knowing she'd have to get some groceries. She pulled her coat off and threw it on the couch, reached under the counter below the sink and grabbed a garbage bag, shaking it open, started to throw away most of what was in the fridge, trying as she went, to think about anything but Loki before she turned around, grabbed Fen and ran back to the office and up to the landing pad from where she'd just come.

Twenty minutes later, she was sitting on the couch with Fen in her arms, talking to Lily. "I'm so glad to hear you're back. I bet that baby has grown so big. We have to meet up so I can see him." Sarah nodded, "Tomorrow? How about lunch time?" Lily said that would be fine and Sarah said she would meet her outside the office tomorrow around noon. After they hung up, she checked the voicemail on her phone, amazed to see twenty messages, after listening to them, most from her mother and sister, one from Pepper and three from Jane, she lay down on the couch, her hand on Fen's carrier, rocking it gently, loneliness like a great weight pressing down on her.

Thursday night found her in Far Rockaway, sitting at her sister's house, helping her fix supper while Daniel watched Fen watch him as he sat beside the carrier on the floor. Mr. Whiskers had twined himself around Sarah's legs as soon as she'd come through the door and she felt sorry that she'd left him so long. "Has he been a good cat?" She asked Lizzie who had laughed, "He's a cat, dogs, I'd have trouble with."

Sarah had been slicing potatoes and she slowed to a stop, looked up at Lizzie across the table, "I'm thinking of taking an extended leave of absence to stay with Loki." Lizzie didn't return her gaze, "In Asgard?" Sarah's eyes widened, "What?" Lizzie shrugged, "I talked to Jane when you were gone, we got to sharing about my marriage, about her and Thor and it came out where you were." Sarah resumed chopping the potatoes and dropping them in a pot of water. "And what did you say?" Lizzie stood up with the two pans of meatloaf in her hands, walked to the stove and set them on the burners so that she could open the oven, "I said it sounded a little farfetched to be real and then I thought of New York, I guess I'd have to see it to believe it. I mean if it's a matter of you not wanting me to know and all.." Sarah shook her head, "It's not that at all.." Lizzie interjected, "She also talked about Loki." Sarah stopped chopping again, "How he's part of the Avengers Initiative.." Sarah's mouth dropped open, then, "She did?" Lizzie nodded, "At least he's one of the good guys."

Sarah put the pan of potatoes on one of the burners. "So, what about your apartment and your stuff?" Lizzie asked as they sat down to wait for dinner to cook. "I was hoping maybe I could store stuff in your big shed out back." Sarah snuck a glance at her, "I mean the furniture isn't mine, it goes with the apartment, all I have is my bed and Fen's room, plus the kitchen table, lights and stuff like that." Lizzie nodded, "I suppose you could, but what about your job?" Fen started to fuss just then and Sarah picked him up out of his carrier, put him to her shoulder and started to bounce him, "I'd have to request an extended leave." Lizzie sighed, "It wouldn't be so bad if we could at least call you and talk to you. I mean what if we want to see the baby? What about mom and dad?" Sarah kissed Fen's head and he turned towards her, his mouth open. "It's not like I can't come home. I'll make sure to visit with Fen but I can't be without Loki, Fen can't be without a father. I can't be practical about it." Lizzie watched Sarah put Fen to her breast, "Screw practical, follow your heart if it will make you happy." Sarah smiled at Lizzie, "Thanks, I needed to hear that." And they watched Fen as he fed, content.

That night when she finally got home, she sat at her laptop and composed her request for an extended leave which she would bring to the office tomorrow morning, put a sleeping Fen in his crib, and changed for bed herself. As she lay there looking out the window at the night sky, she pulled a pillow to her and held it tight, thinking it was a poor substitute at best, wondering if he was missing her as much as she was missing him.

Pepper held Fen while Tony read the letter. It was nearly noon by the time Sarah had managed to get Fen ready for the day as well as herself and she hadn't wanted to disturb Fen's lunch time as he'd been on a good schedule so she never made it to Stark towers until two that afternoon. "Okay, well it looks legit. A year is a long time though. Have you really thought it over, Miss Miller?" Sarah nodded, "I've told my landlord I'm moving, I've called the moving company so I can store my stuff at my sister's place but they won't be able to move me until next Wednesday. I'm fully aware of what I'm getting into." Pepper glanced at Tony who said, "Well maybe you can keep him out of trouble for a while…Loki I mean, not the kid…might want to take him before Miss Potts gets the urge to nest." Pepper punched Tony in the arm as soon as her hands were free, "Hey now, that's on video, insubordination, abuse…" Tony cried. "Thank you for everything," Sarah interrupted him, " I promise I'll be in touch."

As they watched the elevator doors close after her, Tony looked at Pepper, "Think it'll last?" Pepper rolled her eyes and walked away, "What? Hey what?"

Frigga found Loki in the arboretum sitting near the center fountain, his elbows on his knees, hands clasped before him, watching the torchlight throwing shadows into the water, the servants had told her where he was when he had not joined them for dinner that evening. She sat down next to him on the stone bench and put her hand on his. "We missed you for the evening meal, Loki." He stared at the fountain a bit longer, then said, "It's been two weeks, I'm thinking seriously of going to New York and asking Fury to find her for me." Frigga rubbed his back, "You must have patience," Loki grunted at this, "You said she has a family, a place of her own and a job. They all take time to take care of, I'm sure that's why she's not back yet." Loki looked down at the tile floor, "I don't think I can bear to wait much longer." He stood, bowed to Frigga and walked, slowly from the fountain into the darkness of the vegetation, leaving Frigga to gaze into the fountain, wondering herself what was keeping Sarah so long from them.

Sarah watched the scene solidify before her into the large dome that was the portal. Heimdall looked at her, the bags she'd brought with her and waved to the guards standing at the entrance to the portal. "Thank you Heimdall." Sarah said as the guards took her things to a cart waiting on the bridge. Heimdall bowed slightly, "How fares the little prince?" He asked, glancing down at Fen in her arms. "Much better now that we're here." Sarah sighed, bowed in return to Heimdall and boarded the cart for the ride to the palace.

Loki came striding into his chambers and up to where Sarah stood with Fen but before he could say anything, she was handing Fen to him. He took him, kissing him on the forehead and holding him to his chest. "I was ready to go to Midgard and find you, Sarah." He said, waiting for her to look at him, but she lugged a duffle bag over to the wardrobe and opened it. "I hope you can spare some room for my things," Loki walked over to her, not saying a word until she finally looked up at him, "I know I'm late, I'm sorry for taking so long. I had a lot to do" His tone changing, Loki said softly, "How long will you be able to stay?" Sarah stood back up and walked to the bed to sit down, "How long do you want me to stay?" Loki sat down beside her, "Forever?" Sarah stroked Fen's soft hair, "Well, I've taken an extended leave of absence, relinquished my apartment and stored my stuff. If you send me home now, I'll have to stay with my sister," Loki laughed at this, "Perish the thought, you recall who resides two doors down from me?" Sarah smiled at him, "You'll have to find me something to do around here, I need to be productive." Loki lifted Fen in the air and looked at him, letting Sarah take him from her. "Perhaps you could show Sif how to be an agent?" Sarah giggled and elbowed Loki, "Maybe she could show me how to be a warrior." Loki leaned over and kissed her lips, soft and warm, the sensation racing up her spine, making her remember how much she truly did miss him. "We've got at least a year to figure it out."

That evening, as Loki lay curled around her, his arm over her stomach, her arm atop his, Fen in the cradle fast asleep, the warmth of the braziers driving out the chill winter air, the last thought Sarah had before sleep closed her eyes was that she was right where she wanted to be.

END


	20. Chapter 20

For two days, Loki had barely spoken to Sarah, defying her logic every time they attempted to speak. He was angry at her for being so insistent, angry with himself for upsetting her so close to her due date, and there was another reason to invalidate the argument, worrying about how travel would affect the baby…he had pointed out the fact that she was only human after all and had been shoved out of the way for it, as she had sailed out of the bedroom most likely heading to his mother's chambers where she would receive sympathy and encouragement to continue her boycott. He cringed as he thought about how she had reacted when he laughed outright at her idea for him.

"I want Fen to see Earth, to learn about his other home and two years is a long time to be away from it. I know we visit but it's not the same, I could enroll him in nursery school next year and he could make new friends." Sarah had said, "I can continue my job after the baby is born, I can have the baby in a hospital, and maybe you could petition Fury to accept you into the Avengers program." When he had stopped laughing, it had been to an empty room. He had wandered to Thor's room, pensive and sullen but nothing could bring Thor down at that point in time. "Brother, maybe you should listen to Sarah, Jane's time approaches also, and you know how much women like to nest with other women…in fact, all they talk about when she's home are the children." Loki had shaken his head, "I may seem overly concerned but I have my reasons. You've seen what Fen can do, especially when he's upset with someone or something. I'd hate to have to go get Fen from that nursery school Sarah is talking about because he iced another child to the floor, or threw him through a wall for that matter."

Thor had chuckled at this, receiving a glare from Loki, "Perhaps that is why he should go to this school in the first place, he must learn to walk in both worlds, brother, you know that, it is what father advised you when he recognized and marked him." Loki had stood up from the chair he'd been sulking in, "I think it's too soon, he's too young." He hadn't even considered mentioning the other idea she'd had. He was pretty sure that one would have put Thor on the floor insensible with laughter. "But he is smart, and kind, the court adores him." Loki put a hand up, "The court is made up of Asgardians. They are like us. The Midgardians are likely to shun him, or worse." Thor had clapped Loki on the shoulder, the old injury still making him wince a bit, "Brother, believe me, winning an argument with the ladies is an impossible task, even father often admits defeat to mother, we're talking the Allfather, here."

Loki had left his brother, no further along in gaining proponents to his cause than before. He had found Odin in the throne room, speaking with Sif and he had dutifully waited until she had finished. When she'd walked past him, she had giggled, leaving him to stare at her as she left the hall. "Loki," Odin had said, "What brings you here, though I've a good idea." Loki put a hand to his forehead and rubbed it, had she talked to the entire court? He walked up the steps to the Throne and stood before it until Odin bade him sit down in Frigga's chair. "Mother is off with.." Loki had interrupted him, "Fen and Sarah, I already know that. She's assembling her army as we speak."

Odin had smiled, throwing Loki into a tirade, "It's not funny, she means to overrule me, possibly by brute force if she can manage. I know I do not want to return to Midgard to be locked up under guard again. If I'm going to return, it will be to lead a life out from under Fury's gaze." He had hesitated, "And there's another idea Sarah has, this one is certainly doomed to failure." "Joining the Avengers?" Odin replied, Loki threw his hands in the air, "Honestly? I should like to sew that woman's mouth shut." Odin had put a hand on Loki's arm, "Your brother is a part of this team on Midgard. Perhaps it would be wise to join him." Loki had laughed, "They would have to slap Fury to stop him from laughing, then they would kick me to the curb." Odin had stared at Loki quizzically, "To the curb…" Loki had sighed, "Yes, it's a term I picked up from Sarah, it means they would throw me out of the building…or back home." He had run his fingers through his hair then, "Unless I can come up with a convincing argument, it would seem we are going to be heading to Midgard soon," Odin nodded, "Are you willing to let her go alone while you stay here?" At this Loki had given his father a look of incredulity, "Then I would say that you are indeed going to be traveling."

He found Sarah sitting on the floor of their living quarters playing blocks with Fen. "You shouldn't be down on the floor like that. You'll have a time getting back up again." He said, standing over them with arms crossed. Sarah had glared at him, gripping the block in her hand as if she wanted to throw it at him. "Then you get down here and play with him." She said, her voice clipped, putting her hands on the divan nearby as she started to get up from the floor, shrugging off Loki's hands as he made to help her. "I've gotten up and down for the last two days without help thank you." Loki put his hands to his head and groaned. "Dadad, look." Fen said, pulling at his breeches and Loki sat on the floor beside him, Sarah picking up the other toys around the living room and putting them in a chest beside the divan until Loki said, "I can get them you know, go lay down.", making Fen and himself jump as she shut the lid of the chest hard. "You know something, I was thinking about all this earlier, saying to myself that you weren't being fair but the more I thought about it, the more I began to understand. You're not being unfair, you're being a coward. You're afraid to be out of your element. Here you are a god, you have the court to remind you of your importance, the servants to take care of us." "You've never complained about the servants yourself." Loki had interrupted her, but she carried on, "On Mid…on Earth, you would be one among millions, perhaps even a stay at home dad, normal…except for the fact that you could ice over the Empire state building or toss cars without touching them and all that crap but there you couldn't do any of that, and forget even asking Fury about the Avengers program, you'd really have to swallow your pride then." Loki stood up and strode over to the bedroom door where Sarah had gone. "And you would have Fen go to school there so he could learn to be just as normal as the rest of them," Fen had toddled over to Loki, wrapped his arms around his knees and poked his head out between them but Loki ignored him, "What happens when another child takes his toy away and he rewards him by icing his hands to it? Or he throws a Thor-like tantrum? And yes, I would be out of my element there, why does that make me a coward? I think it makes me wise not wanting to go where I don't fit in." Fen pushed through his legs and stood before him, leaning back on him as if to shield him from Sarah. "First you have to try to fit in, Loki, and it's not like you'll be alone either. I'll be there with you."

Sarah had held out her arms to Fen who came running to her and she picked him up in a big hug, Loki's heart skipping a beat as he watched Sarah and their son exchange eskimo kisses and he sighed. "Loki," Sarah said patting the bed beside her, to which he dutifully sat down. "He wouldn't go to nursery school until he was three, we'd have time to teach him what not to do when he was angry," Sarah pushed Fen's jet black hair back from his face, "Kiddo, you need a haircut," Loki reached over and put a hand on Sarah's belly, feeling the baby kick and roll, "but what about the baby, I don't know if it's safe to travel the Bifrost with you pregnant, being just…" Sarah had stared at him until he left the sentence unfinished. "It's a hundred times easier than the scepter and I've been traveling it to see my parents, my sister, and I've still been pregnant so let's toss that argument in the trash." Loki ruffled Fen's hair as he stretched out over their laps, giggling. "In fact, let's toss the rest of the argument out as well," He said as he leaned over and kissed her shoulder, making her close her eyes in a rush of adrenaline. "So when are we going on this trip you're planning?"

The August sun was burning through the haze hovering over the city when the Bifrost retreated into the sky, leaving Loki, Sarah, Thor and Fen alone on the landing pad. "I must call Jane when we get inside to tell her that we are here now. She is working today at the college and I told her that perhaps we could walk over there to meet her after our meeting." "If I'm allowed to," Loki said under his breath, eliciting an elbow from Sarah. Two agents were waiting for them as they walked down the steps to the lower pad, "Welcome back, come with us please." Fen ran up to them and started to walk along with them, "Hi agent." Fen said, trying to match his steps with them, "Hello Fen," one of the agents said with a small wave, Sarah glancing at Loki whose mouth was hard set, eyes watching Fen closely.

Fury met them at the door to his office and ushered them in, Sarah catching a glimpse of Lily in the hall and waving to her as she clapped silently and mouthed "Yay!" Loki had Sarah sit in one of the chairs and Fen hopped up on her lap, making Sarah gasp and hold him to the side of her swollen belly. "Mr. Stark said you were going to be coming home, starting back to work next week?" Sarah nodded, "I hope to, we have to try and find a place, we're going to be staying at Jane's for the time being until we can find something. I have some money saved in the bank so at least I have a deposit on an apartment. I'm going to try to get into my old building so I've not got so far to go to work." Fury nodded, "Okay," and Loki had been surprised at his nonchalant response. Fen had climbed down from Sarah's lap and was starting to explore the room. "Tell me something, have you noticed any specialties with your son?" Sarah cocked her head, "Specialties? What do you mean?" Fury's answer was interrupted by a burning pain in his left foot and he looked down to see Fen, his hands on his shoe which was rapidly becoming encased in ice. Sarah looked around the room and at once knew where Fen was, rising before Loki could react and stepping around the desk, "Fenris Daniel, you've been a bad boy!" Sarah cried, scooping him up where he started to whine and put his arms around Sarah's neck. "Apologize to Mr. Fury," Fen peeked out from Sarah's neck with a whispered, "Sorry" and hid his face again. Sarah watched as Fury lifted his shoe, with effort, from the floor and shook it free of ice. "I'm sorry, sir." Sarah sighed patting Fen's back.

Fury stared at the boy for a moment, "Well it answers my question then, anything else you've noticed besides the fact that you'll never want for ice cubes?" Loki's mouth tightened and Fury glanced at him, "Anything you'd like to say?" Loki narrowed his eyes at Fury, "I would ask for an apology, that was a crude remark." Fury looked at Sarah, who was whispering in Fen's ear. "Please excuse me, I didn't mean to upset you, Miss Miller." "Laufeyson, sir." Sarah interjected as Fury raised an eyebrow, "We were wed just after Fen's first birthday." She felt Loki's hand on her shoulder as he squeezed it gently in response. "So," Fury said turning to Loki, "What is on your agenda now that you're back here on Earth?" Loki smiled as wide as he could, "Stay at home father?" and grunted as Sarah elbowed him in the hip and said, "Director, Loki wanted to petition S.H.I.E.L.D. for a position in the Avengers team." Loki threw his head back and closed his eyes until he realized Fury hadn't said anything and when he looked down again, Fury was staring at him. Thor, who had remained silent all this time finally spoke up, "My brother has truly changed, Director, I think he could become a valuable member of the team if allowed to join us in a group." Fury crossed his arms, "You're biased, you're his brother. I can't go by that recommendation alone." He paused, "You would have to be his watchdog. He'd be your responsibility."

Loki's mouth dropped open and he as quickly shut it again. It had sounded as though Fury was actually considering it. "I'll have to consult with everyone else, a team isn't a team unless all members are in agreement but I will be in touch with you, trust me, my first instinct is to ask you, Miss…" Fury put a hand to his bald head, "Laufeyson, and your family to stay here in quarters but I think you've got a hold on everything for the time being. I'll expect to hear from you each week on your progress." Fury looked down at Fen who was still hiding from his gaze, "And your son's… when are you due?" Sarah rubbed her stomach, "Three weeks from today." Fury nodded, "I want to know the details there too. You may go."

Loki stepped out onto the street in front of S.H.I.E.L.D. half expecting a slew of agents to come running out the door telling him that Fury had changed his mind but as they started to walk down the street towards the subway to head to Columbia University to meet with Jane, he started to smile, to walk a bit slower, feeling the need to run away from Fury's sphere of influence grow smaller. He took Fen's hand and Thor took the other, swinging a squealing, laughing Fen, Sarah following behind them shaking her head, "Be careful guys, he needs those arms, you know."

Jane and Sarah sat in the kitchen of Jane's apartment while Loki and Thor amused Fen outside. "It seems so good to be home now." Sarah sighed, receiving a side hug from Jane, laughing as they did so, "I can't hug Thor anymore except like this, he's so, you know, built." Sarah smiled, "I got the skinny one, Fen is shaped just like him too, all arms and legs, like a spider monkey." Jane smiled and patted her stomach indicating Sarah to join her and they smiled as they felt the baby roll around. "Are you worried about Loki?" Jane asked her, Sarah shrugged, "I know he'll adjust. It'll take time and maybe Fury will manage to come through for him, crossing my fingers, now what can I help with for supper?"

Loki and Thor lay on the grass outside in the yard, watching the clouds roll by, Fen climbing first from one of them to the other and back. "Do you really think Fury will allow me to work with the Avengers?" Loki mused. "He may at that, brother. His first reaction would have been to say no if he had any doubts. It is you who must lay any remaining doubts to rest." Loki looked over at Thor, then back up at the clouds. "I'll have you there to make sure I do." Fen sat up in the grass and pointed to Thor, "Avenger," Then to Loki, "Avenger." Thor laughed, "Brother, he is wise beyond his years," Loki smiled, "Yes he is."


End file.
